What the future holds
by cinnamon988
Summary: He didn't think that one drink with Jack'd change his life. Neither did he think that on one day he'd be wrong. But he's always suspected that his children inherited his anti-plan gene, along with their mother's jeopardy friendly nature.
1. what the future holds

14th of February, 2008

Cardiff, UK, Earth, Solar system

The Doctor and Jack were sitting in a pub, drinking beer and sharing stories. They were talking about the time they spent together travelling —the two of them and Rose-, and told each other about the adventures they've had since their parting.

Jack was talking about the century he spent waiting for the Doctor, his travels and the wars he fought. Then he moved to the topic of his job at Torchwood. He knew that his friend wasn't completely comfortable with the branch knowing about him, so he coloured the stories a little. Made the team look better, left out the embarassing mistakes. Like Suzie. He talked about the sex-gas, the weevils, the countrycide, the opening of the Rift and Abbaddon. Of course he left out the very big mistakes too —like Owen opening the Rift, the team shooting him, the whole team opening the Rift again... But what the Doctor didn't know, didn't hurt him.

The Doctor was talking about Donna first, and made it sound like he met her right after losing Rose, not fifteen years later. He proudly bragged that he dried the Thames, and that the Christmas-star was his work too. He told Jack about his first meeting with Martha and the Judoon, Shakespeare and the Family and the angels. Like Jack, he left out parts too. He didn't want to alert the human next to him that he'll probably end up being a giant, wrinkled head in a jar.

"And how did your team react when you waltzed back into the hub after months of absence?" asked the Doctor.

"You mean after I waltzed back after one and a half years of absence?" asked back Jack, then when the Doctor didn't catch on, he added, "They remember. Everything."

"Ouch," came the reply, followed by the question, "how?"

"One of the devices in my office has created some kind of protective bubble. The time wasn't reversed in the hub."

The Doctor couldn't decide if he should wince or laugh at Jack's bad luck. After a moment he chose the latter.

"Just laugh. I'll want to see your face when you meet them for the first time," he muttered. While he told the team about the Doctor, they've never met him. "Gwen will slap you for dragging me to the end of the universe and not bringing me back in time; Ianto will simply spit into your tea. Or put aspirin into it."

"You're kidding, right?" asked the Doctor. He still hadn't recovered from Jackie's last slap, and it was almost seventeen years ago. Of course there was another slapping mother after her, but the fact that Martha's mother smacked him never bothered him much. He didn't like the woman, while he's always had a tiny bit of affection towards Rose's mother.

"Yes," replied Jack, and the Doctor sighed in relief. "Ianto'd never spit into your tea."

The Doctor didn't have a witty comeback to that, so he just changed the topic.

"How is Martha doing on the team?" he asked, and didn't miss Jack's grimace that he tried cover up with a forced smile. It didn't fool the Doctor. "Is she that bad?"

"She's not bad. Well, not really," he stopped, trying to collect his thoughts. "She would be a good agent, but travelling with you has spoiled her."

"What do you mean? You travelled with me too. Do you feel spoiled?"

"It's different. She joined us right after leaving you. I had a whole century to re-accomodate to the slow-path."

"The slow path?"

"With you she visited new and interesting places. She had adventures every day, they came to her. She got used to them."

"Ah," was all the Doctor said, understanding what Jack was talking about.

"Yes. She's impatient with her job. She wants to work everyday. It's not a bad thing, but she doesn't really understand that while a calm day is boring to her, it's very good for the planet."

"Did you try to talk to her about it?"

"Not yet, but I'll have to. The others are getting annoyed with her. Especially this week. She was unbearable," he sighed, then explained, "It was a slow week. Again. She spent it with giving 'advices'. Again." The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "She's sure she knows aliens better than the others. She insist on dealing with them. Half the times I have to go in and save her from the pissed off paxians."

"Paxians? The race dedicated to love and peace?"

"Yeah," replied Jack, then an idea came to him. "Why don't you come and talk to her? She might even listen to you."

"No, thanks," declined the Doctor.

"Why? Are you really of Gwen slapping you?" teased Jack.

"No. Look at the calendar!" he answered, then continued when Jack —despite checking the date- didn't make the connection. "It's the 14th of February. Valentine's day. The day of the lovers."

"Ah," said Jack "so did she summon her courage and told you, or you just caught on?" he smirked.

"Yeah. A nice love confession, with a big dose of blame."

"Blame?"

"For not noticing," answered the alien, and something in his tone caught Jack attention.

"I always wondered if you were that slow, or just simply ignored the signs. Or both." The Doctor glared at him. "But now I realize that you're a very good actor." He laughed. "The whole thing with the perception filters was an attempt to blow her off, right?"

"Maybe," grunted the Doctor, and Jack didn't bother to hide his amusement.

"So, I guess you don't want to turn up today. She might think it's your way to make your feelings towards her clear," he concluded, then asked, "Anyways did the stupid-act work on Rose?"

The Doctor shifted uncomfortably. He really didn't want to answer that question.

"No need to be shy, Doc. Out with the truth!"

"It worked, until our last month together," he answered, and again, there was something in his tone. Jack caught on quickly, and decided not to press further.

For a minute there was an uncomfortable silence between them, but it was broken by the sound of Jack's phone. While neither of them said it aloud, they were relieved, and were thankful for the distraction. Jack searched his pocket for the phone, and when he found it, picked it up.

"It's Jack." he spoke into it, "Whoa, slow down, Tosh, and tell me again what happened!" The Doctor, who didn't bother to pretend that he wasn't eavesdropping, was immediately on alert, when he saw Jack's expression darkening. "Are you sure?...Ok...Keep him locked up. I'll be back in ten minute."

"What happened?" asked the Doctor, right after his companion finished his call.

"They captured an alien. He has two hearts," answered Jack.

"The Master," voiced the Doctor the same thing that was on Jack's mind. "Let's go back!"

* * *

It didn't take ten whole minutes to get back to the hub, and they didn't even had a car or a Tardis. They were running all the way, earning surprised and angry looks from the people who were forced to jump out of their way. They both were used to running, but now they pushed even harder, reaching their limits. They weren't even tired when they arrived, their hate seemed to keep them going.

So seven minutes after the phone call, the two men burst through the hub's doors. They immediately noticed the damaged state of the room. Papers were scattered everywhere, a parts of a broken computer at the stairs, and Gwen's desk was shattered.

"What the hell happened here?" bellowed Jack.

"The bloke wasn't keen on coming with us," informed him Owen, coming out of the infirmary, his head bandaged.

"I understand that. But why does the place look like Hiroshima after the nuke?"

"He cooperated, up until the doors closed behind us. Then he got out of the cuffs, knocked out Ianto and threw me on Gwen's desk. Then Tosh tasered him."

"Where is he now?"

"In a cell. Jones and Gwen are trying to interrogate him."

"And this all happened in the last..."

"...thirty minutes. We didn't call you, just after I ran some tests. They showed a couple of non human features, and a DNA I've never seen in my whole life."

"Can I take a look at it?" spoke up the Doctor for the first time since he entered.

Owen looked at Jack, seeking permission. When Jack nodded, he gave the files he was holding to the Doctor.

"He's not the Master," he announced after a minute.

"We already know that," replied Owen, causing the newcomers to look at him, interested.

"How come?"

"I mentioned that I've never seen a genetic make-up like his. Because he is human, only not."

"Huh?"

Jack looked at the Doctor for explanation. "I was going to say that too. The Master is from one of the eldest gallifreyan families. A pureblood if you like. This guy is a human, with dominant Time Lord genes."

"English, please."

"The structure of the prisoner's DNA is a human double helix, but the genes aren't," said the Doctor then continued, "Probably that's the reason I couldn't sense him."

Right after he said that, Tosh walked in, looking amused. She walked to her desk, sat down in her chair. She spun around to face them, then she announced.

"This guy is definetly not the Master."

"We know, we saw the result of the tests," said Jack.

"Well, I would've been able to tell you that without the tests too," she answered.

"Yes? And how?"

"The guy down in the cells doesn't look, talk, move or gesticulate like that monster."

"He could've regenerated," challenged the Doctor.

"I know. But our boy has no clue about last year," she answered, "we made Jones test that. The boy didn't recognise her; I was monitoring his vitals during the confrontation."

"He didn't react at all? And boy?"

"The only thing he showed was irritation. But after two minutes he started to ignore her," she said with a sly grin, then added, "And boy, because he's about twenty-three. But look for yourself."

"He can be much older, you never know with Time Lords. Look at me, I'm 903," commented the Doctor, but was ignored.

Toshiko typed something on her computer. In the next minute the picture appeared on the main monitor, showing them what was happening in the cells. A young man with dark brown hair, in his early twenties was sitting on the floor in the middle of the cell.

"He's quite a nice guy. Rambles a little too much. When Martha ordered him to talk, he launched into a speech about humans' obsession with chips, then managed to lure Gwen into a conversation about her high school, boyfriend, favourite colour and movies."

"Sounds like somebody I know," commented Jack.

"Ssshhh. They're talking again," hushed them the computer genius, then turned up the sound.

* * *

_The first thing they saw and heard was Martha snapping at the prisoner._

"I asked you a question, Master. Answer, now!"

"She doesn't know about the results of the tests yet," commented Owen.  
_  
"Is that an order?" asked the boy, looking up. Everybody could see that he was a step away from laughing. He found the situation hilarious. "Because if it is, you've mistaken your role, Love," he added with a grin._

"What are you talking about?" asked back Martha, irritated and confused.

"Well, if I'm the master that makes you the sub, right? And in that case I'm the one that's doing the whole ordering thing," he stated like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Back at the computers the Torchwood team snorted simultaneously.

_"Now, look you prick. I repeat. I asked you a question. Ans..."_

She was cut off by the smiling alien again.

"You didn't."

"I didn't what," snapped Martha again, quickly losing her temper.

"You didn't ask anything. You just told me to talk. What I did. Ask Gwen over there if you can't remember," he nodded towards the other woman, who was silently laughing at the scene. "We were talking about her life and favourites and..."

"Oh, shut up," yelled Martha at him, then stormed out of the room. Gwen quietly followed, leaving the amused alien behind.

* * *

A minute later they were with the others who were watching the show on the monitor. Martha pulled up short when she caught sight of the Doctor.

"Doctor," she breathed, then launched herself into his arms.

"Hello," the alien answered, then disengaged himself from the woman.

"You're here. Why? Is there any particular reason you chose this day?" she asked, with hope filled eyes.

"I was with Jack when Tosh called him. I came to meet the prisoner," he answered while edging away from Martha.

"I got the test results," spoke up Owen, and tried to hand her the files.

"Yeah, the guy is a Time Lord," cut him off Tosh, because he could tell that the prisoner wasn't the Master. She enjoyed Martha's suffering, served her well after the last week.

"And he's still a prat. But this time, I'll be the master, and when I'm done with him, he'll wish he's never regenerated," vowed Martha.

"Maybe you shouldn't do that, Martha," tried to hold her back the Doctor. He enjoyed the show earlier too, but didn't want to embarass the woman. "I mean, he regenerated, as you said. He's not the same person anymore."

"I understand, that you want to spare him, last Time Lords and all, but you can't forget what he did to you. We have to make him pay." And with that, she went back to the prisoner.

"I think she's trying to impress you, Doc," said Jack.

"With revenging me?" asked back the Doctor, clearly not understanding the workings of the female mind.

"Yeah," chorused the whole team.

"That's nice," he commented absentmindedly, then he changed the topic. "Shouldn't we tell her about the prisoner not being the Master? For the boy's sake? She might hurt him,"he asked.

"Ah, don't worry about him. I spent the last forty minutes with him. I give Martha another five minutes before she storms out again," answered Gwen, then glanced at the monitor. "Maybe I should get back. He talks to me without rude comments."

"Do that," answered Jack, and Gwen walked off, almost bumping into Ianto, who was coming out of the infirmary. "Are you ok?" he asked, voice filled with affection, while checking Ianto over.

"I'm fine, sir," came the reply. "Martha's still with the prisoner?" changed the topic the 'teaboy', aware of the smirking faces of their co-workers.

"Yes. She just went back for another round." He turned back to the Doctor. "Don't you want to go and talk to him?"

"Yeah, but firstly I want to know who he is, and I don't think he'd tell me if I just strode in demanding answers," he replied.

* * *

_A moment later Martha appeared on the screen of the monitor, looking determined._

As the women entered the cell again, the prisoner looked up, and the now familiar grin appeared on his face.

"Back so soon?" he drawled, "Missed me already?"

"Dream on. I came back to give you another chance to speak."

"About what?" he asked innocently.

"About your intentions towards the humans and the planet."

"I should have intentions?" he asked. Martha's presence and attempts clearly amused him. "And towards the whole planet? And here I thought I'd just have to be your master. Are the others like you? Because if they are, I won't do the job. One is enough of you," he mused aloud.

Martha ignored the last part of his monologue, "Answer my question, you sorry excuse of a Time Lord!"

"So now I'm your Lord too?" he asked, his tone laced with innuendo. Then he suddenly changed the topic. "Can I get a glass of water? Or should I just order you?" he asked.

At this point Martha got totally fed up, so she moved to slap the insufferable man. But instead of letting her, he easily caught her arm, and twisted it.

"Sweetheart. I'm really not into these kind of things. At least, not before you buy me a drink. Or get me a glass of water," he said, then released her.

Gwen pulled out her gun, when he attacked Martha, but after her release she lowered it.

"Ok. So I guess, you're not the Master."

"Nope," he said, popping the 'p'.

"Then who are you? What's your name?"  
  
_"Alex" he answered without a break, then turned to Martha. "And before you make a fuss, I have to remind you, you've never asked my name."_

* * *

Before Gwen could ask another question, Jack and the others —minus the Doctor- burst into the room, pointing their gun at Alex.

"Hands in the air, then step away from her!" ordered Jack, and this time Alex didn't make any comments. He turned to Martha and asked, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. My arm hurts, but I'll survive," she answered.

Alex felt the need to defend himself, so he spoke up, though quietly, "Oh, please. I barely touched you."

Jack looked back on the young man before him, and noticed that he seemed uncomfortable under his gaze. That mildly surprised him, given his previous behavior. He focused on the boy's face and body language, and saw that his cocky confidence evaporated in the past minute, so he actually looked like a twenty years old boy rather than a homicide-loving crazy Time Lord.

"Okay, playtime is over, kiddies. Martha, he's not the Master. We ran a DNA test, we're sure. So calm down."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" she demanded.

"Because we thought it might be a good example for you," said Tosh. "You're not infallible, so don't act like you were."

Martha was embarassed, she didn't speak a word, just nodded to show she understood. Jack turned back to Alex.

"So, who are you, and what are you doing in Cardiff?"

"Alex. Accident," came the muttered reply.

"Care to elaborate?"

"My name is Alexander, and me being here is an accident," he said like he was talking to a retarded two years old. "I was meant to be in 2108."

"That's a century away," noted Jack, ignoring the boy's tone.

"I blame the designated driver. He can't land in the right time to save his life. Or mine."

"Sounds like somebody I know," Jack muttered for the second time that day, but know he was almost sure that the boy was talking about the Doctor. "Are you here alone?" he asked. When he came in first and saw the damage, it occured to him, that if the prisoner wanted to escape, he wouldn't have come in with Ianto and Owen. But he did; it sounded like a diversion. He wanted his partner to escape while he was struggling.

He smiled knowingly when Alex looked uncomfortable again. "My sister was with me," he admitted, and Jack was surprised again. He didn't think Alex'd just give him this information. But then he realized that if the boy was with the —future- Doctor, he might know Jack too.

"Where is she now?"

"I told her to run to the waterfall, sit down and wait for me. We should meet up there with our driver later. I'm sure she's still there."

"What does she look like?"

"Short girl, hair in plaits, she's wearing a pink jacket and has a teddy bear with her." He noticed the weird looks, so he added, "What? She's four."

Jack nodded towards Ianto, who immediately went out to retrieve the girl. He stopped for a moment when Alex shouted after him, "Her name is Serena."

"Why did you sent her away? We wouldn't have harmed her," asked Gwen.

"How should have I known that? I remember, that Ms. Jones here came up to me, and punched me without a reason."

"Our special cameras showed that you have two hearts. We thought that you're someone else. "Sorry," apologized Tosh.

A moment later the doors opened and a little pink figure blurred between them, then attached herself to Alex's leg. Then she looked up, and noticed someone her brother didn't.

"Daddy," she shouted happily, and ran to the Doctor, who caught her when she jumped into his arms. It was like a reflex.

Everybody in the room was shocked. The Torchwood agents simply didn't understand the situation. Martha was jealous, because the siblings looked nothing like her. That meant that she couldn't manage to catch the Doctor's attention. Jack was shocked. While he suspected that Alex knew the Doctor, it didn't occure to him that he might be the boy's father. He just couldn't imagine the Doctor being a father. It sounded too domestic.

Alex recovered first from his shock, and immediately blew up on his father.

"Hi, Dad. Nice of you to join us," he drawled. The Doctor tried to cut in, but Alex didn't let him interrupt, "Tell me something. Did you even checked the year before you dropped us off? You know, making sure you don't leave your kids in a wrong time, when Torchwood still likes to throw non-humans into cells? Huh?"

"I..," stammered the Doctor.

"Do you have any idea how lucky we were? What if you leave us just two years earlier? When shoot first, ask later was the rule? What if they caught Rena and hurt her?" he said in a harsh whisper. He calmed down a moment later and muttered an apology, "Sorry. Didn't mean to go off like this."

"It's okay," came the weak reply. The Doctor really didn't know what to say, and Rena was still in his arms. He put her down back on the ground. She didn't like the idea of standing, so she immediately climbed her brother again.

"I know you were eager to take Mum out on Valentine's day, since you've forgotten the last six, but please next time check that bloody date," he said, then added quietly, "This was so the last time I played babysitter."

"You say that every year at every anniversary," giggled Rena. Alex rolled his eyes.

"Don't I know that?" he said and kissed the top of her head.

Meanwhile Jack motioned to Gwen to take Serena away. He didn't want her to hear what he was about to say.

"Come on Sweetie. We're going to get you a nice cup of hot cocoa," said Gwen, and took Serena from Alex. She went with her without a fuss. After Jack's glare, the others followed them out.

Alex immediately caught on. "What was that about?" he asked.

"I have no idea who you are," blurted out the Doctor.

"Wh..," started to say Alex, but suddenly realization dawned on him. "You're from before us." The Doctor nodded. "Shit"

"Yeah," agreed the Doctor.

Something occured to Alex. "But how come you didn't realize it was me? You always recognize me."

"It's complicated. I should be able to feel your presence, but just after you were conceived, then recognize you from your birth."

"So somehow my timeline is connected to yours, that's why you don't feel my presence right now," he concluded.

"Yes. So because I haven't even met your mother, I still can't feel or recognize you," he explained.

Alex just looked at him and said. "You've had," then continued staring. He cocked his head to the right; he was in deep concentration. The Doctor could practically see the wheels turning in his head.

A moment later he straightened out, and produced his own version of his father's gigawatt grin.

"I figured it out!" he announced.

"You figured out what?" asked Jack, rejoining the conversation.

"The whole situation." Alex grinned again. "Dad didn't make a mistake. He left us here on purpose. Actually, it's brilliant," he exclaimed.

"What's brilliant? You lost me."

"Us being here is a time loop. A near paradox."

"I still don't understand," quipped Jack.

The Doctor didn't have the same problem. "He left you here, so you meet me, so in the right time I'll drop my version of you here too to meet the present version of myself."

"Yup," agreed Alex.

"That sounds pointless," commented Jack.

"It isn't. You don't know everything," explained Alex, then turned to the Doctor. "You don't feel me right now,"he stated, and his father nodded. "Now, what you don't know is, that I already exist."

"That's impossible," said the Doctor, then added, "How?"

Alex grinned again. "Did you really believe that the universe was so cruel that it'd let grandma pop out more little Jackies?"

The Doctor's jaw hit the floor. "Rose. Your mother is Rose," he whispered.

"So, I guess the whole 'she didn't fell for my act' covered a little more than you told me," commented Jack.

"Yeah," answered the Doctor absentmindedly. He was too busy staring at Alex. His son. He was trying to find Rose's features on him. It wasn't hard, if you already knew about her being the mother. If you didn't know, the similarities weren't noticeable —Alex didn't exactly look like either of them. He was the mix of his parents.

Alex knew what he was thinking, so he said, "I'm a mix of both of you. But f it makes you feel better, Sam looks like you, and Rena is a carbon copy of Mum."

"I can't believe I missed that," said the Doctor.

"Yeah. But we should get back on track. You have to get to the parallel world."

"How? The gaps are sealed. I'll destroy two worlds if I try to open the void without...," he trailed off, then grinned, "...without another Time Lord. And you're already there. Now I just have to pinpoint you."

Alex nodded, "And I can help you with that. You didn't feel me when Mum was still here, 'cause I'm not exactly a Time Lord. So you have to learn to recognize my psychic energy before you try to cross the void,..."

"...and I can learn it from you," finished his son's sentence the Doctor. Then he place his hands on Alex's temple and asked, "Are you ready?"

Alex nodded. The whole procedure was over in a minute. After the Doctor released the boy, he immediately started to feel the presence in the back of his mind. It felt fantastic. He couldn't wait to get to Pete's world and reunite with Rose and their child.

"I think my job is done here," announced Alex. He looked at the watch on Jack's wrist, and said, "It's two fifty-four in the afternoon."

The Doctor wanted to ask why he said those words, but his attempt was cut off by the sound of a materializing Tardis. They all looked in the direction of the sound, and soon saw another Doctor emerge from the blue box. He was still in his tenth form, but looked much younger than the younger one. The lights in his eyes caused the drastic change, thought Jack. The future version was truly happy.

"Hello, everybody," greeted them the newcomer.

"That's my cue. I'm gonna fetch Rena," said Alex, and his father nodded.

Jack spoke up, "The kitchen is...," but was cut off.

"I'm sure the others were spying on us through the cameras. So I think they will be nice enough to bring her down to the computers," said Alex, then walked off.

"I never thought that I'd ever say that, but domesticity is good," announced the future Doctor, looking at his departing son. Then he turned to his younger self. "What are you waiting for? Say goodbye and cross the void!"

"I will do that. But I'm sure you already know what I want to ask," the younger answered.

"Yes, she's here, and yes, you can see her."

In the same moment the door of the Tardis opened again, and a still peroxide blonde Rose Tyler stepped out. She looked around, then said, "Hey."

Without a word, Jack scooped her up, and hugged her tightly. He kissed her forehead, then set her down and directed her to the present Doctor.

He didn't know what to say, so he settled for a soft "Hello," which Rose repeated. Then he grabbed her hand and pulled her into a hug. "I missed you" he whispered.

"I know. But I'll be with you in a couple of hours," she answered.

He pulled back, looked into her eyes, and said, "Rose...I lo...," but Rose interrupted him.

"Not to me," then she handed him a sheet of paper. "There are the coordinates of the beach, the time, everything you have to know," she said. She kissed him lightly, then she walked over to her Doctor —or husband, by the rings on their hand.

In the meantime Alex and Serena arrived back too, and quietly entered the Tardis, followed by Rose, then all of them turned back and said goodbye. After they disappeared, something occured to the Doctor. Rose still looked like she did the last time he saw her. If he didn't know better, he'd have mistaken her for Alex's sister.

"How old is Alex? And Rose, she...," he didn't know how to ask the question.

Fortunately his future self knew what he wanted to ask. "The vortex somehow tied Rose to the Tardis. They live and die together."

"If I'm careful enough, the Tardis only dies when I'm gone," grinned the younger.

"Yup. Oh, and Alex is seventy-eight," came the answer for the Doctor's first question. "And I'm afraid, this was really the last time I managed to lure him into babysitting."

Then the older Doctor smiled at his younger self and Jack again, then went after his family.

Before he disappeared, Alex appeared again with the usual grin on his face. "Aunty Jack, please tell Uncle Ianto that I'm sorry for hitting him," he said before shutting the door.

Moments later the Tardis dematerialized, right before Jack muttered a quiet 'Aunty?', sounding offended.

As soon as the ship disappeared, the Doctor dashed out of the cell, and ran to his Tardis. He quickly said goodbye, then took off, followed by the Torchwood team's amused glances. Jack walked over to them, and watched his friend's departure. He couldn't blame the bloke —alien- for his rushed exit, he would've done the same. He glanced over at Martha, and saw her crying silently. He steered her away from the others, he had to talk to her. But not before sending a dirty grin in Ianto's way.

* * *

The Doctor was in a hurry. He was running around the control panel, pulling levers, pushing buttons while concentrating on his son's life sign. The crossing of the void was surprisingly easy.

He checked the notes he got from future Rose, and set the coordinates. Moments later all the shaking stopped; the Tardis's landed.

He ran out, only to find himself on an empty beach. He was scared, what if he landed in a wrong place, or time or both. He was about to go back into the Tardis to re-check the notes, when he heard the voice. Jackie Tyler's voice, as she tried to calm her sobbing daughter.

He quickly climbed over the rocks that were in his way. He looked around and noticed the embracing women. Jackie noticed him too, along with Mickey and Pete. Rose remained oblivious. When Jackie didn't shout at him, the Doctor broke into a run; he wanted to get to Rose.

When he was only three feet away, Jackie gently disengaged herself from her daughter, then gently turned her in the Doctor's direction.

For a minute Rose stood frozen; she didn't move, just stared at him, like she expected him to vanish like a ghost again. The Doctor crossed the remaining distance between them, and waited for her to make the first move. She soon lifted her hand, and cupped his face.

"You're real," she whispered, then in a stronger voice she said, "You're here."

"I am. And I'm not going anywhere without you, ever again."

"Good," she half sobbed. "How did you get here? You said it's impossible."

"It's a long story. It involved our brilliant and slightly rude eldest son too," he answered, and brushed his hand over her slightly swelled abdomen. Rose's eyes widened.

"I'm so sorry. You said you couldn't get back, and I didn't want you to know about him, but never meet him."

"It's okay," he soothed her.

Then he cupped her cheek and said, "I think I owe you a confession," he said, then kissed her. After the kiss he looked into her eyes and said, "Rose Tyler. I love you."

"Quite right too," she answered, smiling.

Then he scooped her up into his arms and spun her around.

"I love you too. Let's go home," she said, an went off to say goodbye to her other family.

Jackie cried, but between the sobs she managed to threaten the Doctor. The two men just told him to take care of her.

* * *

Three hours later, while they were floating in the vortex in the right universe, the Doctor was watching his soon-to-be wife sleeping peacefully in their bed. Her right hand was resting on her 'baby bump', the left was tucked under her chin. She looked adorable.

The Doctor couldn't resist the urge; he took off his trainers and climbed into the bed next to Rose. He spooned up behind her, took the hand that was resting on her belly and entwined their fingers.

As Rose snuggled closer to him, he couldn't help but agree with his future self.

It was good to be domestic. 


	2. Interlude One: Sometimes he is wrong

i still don't own doctor who

prequel-ish companion to the first chapter of 'What the future holds'

* * *

Rose was coming out of the bathroom, determined to find the Doctor and talk to him. The man's been acting strangely around her since the...incident. Now Rose had enough, so she decided to confront him about his behaviour.

When she entered the console room, she found the alien she was searching for under the control panel in the hole. Rose smiled, shook her head, but didn't go closer. This way she could watch him, without him noticing her. The Doctor was trying to fix something that didn't need fixing, as usual. He has been doing that a lot in the last month, especially in the last three days.

Her smile suddenly changed into a frown. He really did spend a lot of time tinkering. He was always doing that when they weren't on an adventure. She tried to recall their longest conversation that took place in the past four weeks, but she couldn't remember any. The last time they did that was before their trip to the impossible planet. Before it happened.

Rose suddenly felt the urges to cry, to run to her mother, to hug him and to throw something at him, in the same time. 'Welcome to Hormone City', she thought, then remembered why she's come to the control room. To talk about the...incident —she really should stop calling it that, she mused, but she couldn't find a better name to it, not yet. She had to learn about the Doctor's opinion first. He played a huge part in it too, he had to have something to say about it. She needed to see his reaction desperately. After all, there was a consequence.

She stepped out of the shadows and made her way to him. When she reached her destination, she sat down, and swung her left leg over his workplace, resting it on the other side of the hole.

The Doctor heard the noise she made, and immediately stood up. Or at least tried, given the fact, that she blocked his way with her leg. He played with the idea of physically removing her, but he didn't act on it. He'd have to touch her to do so, and he really didn't want to do that. Not that he wouldn't enjoy the feeling, oh no. The problem was, that he'd enjoy it too much. Like the last time. He didn't trust himself; he was sure that if he gave in, that'd lead to another...incident. It wasn't that he didn't want to repeat the...incident —he really should give it an other name, he thought -, but he knew it'd make the things complicated. More complicated than they already were. The sound of Rose clearing her throat snapped him out of his musings. He turned to the left to greet his companion who was frowning at him.

"Hello, Rose. How did you sleep?" he asked with unnaturaly wide grin. After a minute he realised that it didn't have the desired effect on Rose. Her frown didn't disappear. On the contrary, it seemed to deepen. He still didn't give up, "You know, if you moved your leg, I could climb out of here, we could go to the kitchen and have a nice cuppa," he said and tried to get up again, but Rose didn't move. He tried again, "Rose? Move please."

Then, for the first time since she came in, Rose spoke. But she didn't say what the Doctor was hoping for. "That's not gonna happen."

"Why not?" he asked back, still trapped.

"Because we need to talk. And we both know that the minute I move, you'll make a run for it. Or if you don't, you'll avoid the topic, and after a while I'll feel so bad for pressuring you, that I'll drop it willingly," she answered.

"So you won't let me get up," he concluded, then looking at her face, he gave up on every hope that he'd get out of the room without admitting his deepest secrets. But he realized this in the moment he saw her first.

"Nope. But you already knew that in the minute you saw me," she told him, and the Doctor was amazed. He didn't realize that Rose could read him that good. "And now you're freaking out over the fact that I can read you," she stated smugly.

The Doctor was shocked again, the he decided to try a different tactic.

"And don't even think about using the kicked puppy expression," she warned him.

The Doctor admitted defeat, and leaned back against the panel. "What do you want to talk about?" he asked.

"You perfectly know what I want to talk about," she answered.

"Rose, I might have some psychic abilities, but I'm not a mind reader. You have to tell me what you want," he said, hoping that she'll be too embarassed to bring up the ...incident. He was wrong. He should've counted on that, because it wasn't a silly ape he was talking to. It was Rose Tyler.

"Fine. I want to talk about what happened with the Beast. About the night after that, the one you spent in my bed. You pretend it didn't happen, yet you're painfully cold and distant since then. I want to talk about the attempts you made to push me away, including the 'I was a dad once' bomb you dropped on me three days ago," she ranted, getting angrier with every word, but she didn't raise her voice. It was scarier this way, especially when the other knew that she was angry. She learned that trick from the man —well, alien- in front of her.

"Oh," was all he said.

"Yes, oh. Now start talking, because neither of us will leave this spot 'til we settled everything."

"Fine," he agreed, and started to talk. "Remember when you asked me about the Beast's words? I lied. I think it told the truth. Well, a twisted form of it. Rose...," he trailed off, and ran his fingers through his hair, trying to collect his thoughts. "The Beast knew things it shouldn't have. I think it was something like me. Sees the possibilities. And frankly, the possibility of losing you scares the hell out of me."

"Can't you see it? I mean if you have the ability, why don't you check if it told the truth?"

"I can't look into my own timeline. Or rather, I won't. The present is terrifying enough," he tried to cover up his fears with a joke.

"So you're pushing me away, because you believe that someday you'll lose me. And if we're not close, it won't hurt you so much," she realized, and spoke it aloud, more to herself than to the Doctor. When she looked into his eyes, her theory was confirmed.

"I'm sorry," he said, and hung his head. He didn't want to see the disappointment. But he had to look back at her when she cupped his face and forced him to look up.

"You're an idiot," she said with a sad smile, then after her words sunk in, she continued, "You said it. The Beast only saw the possibilities, not the facts. Or maybe it did lie to me. Didn't you think about that?"

"I didn't. I'm sorry," he said. It was a lie, but he really didn't want her to know that he believed the monster. He hoped that his confession would be enough for Rose, and tried to get up again. But he was wrong again.

"Next time you're having idiotic thoughts, just come to me instead of closing off," she said, then added when she saw the Doctor's movements, "I'm still not finished with you."

"Rose," whined the Doctor, he really didn't want to have this conversation.

"Don't Rose me. I want to know why you act like we didn't...you know. Or better, why did you came into my room if you knew that you'd regret it in the morning."

The answer came out as a whisper. "I wasn't thinking. I just wanted to know..really know that you're alright, that's why I went to your room. Then one thing just lead to an other. I'm sorry, if I hurt you, but I just didn't know how to act after..it. I didn't want to make you feel not wanted," he said, but Rose didn't answer. She was just loking at him with those big, adoring, deep brown eyes.

He held her gaze for a while, but then he broke it, and admitted defeat. Again.

"Okay, maybe that's not the whole truth. I wanted to go to you, because I wanted comfort. I wanted to know that you're ok, because I needed it. I needed you to be okay, because I would've gone crazy with worry if I had to wait for you to wake up. But I really didn't go in to...do that. But I don't regret it, and I just can't imagine, that maybe you don't regret it either," he rambled, again looking at the sonic screwdriver in his hand, rather at Rose's face.

This way he totally missed the little smile that crept on her face.

"And now I don't know how to behave around you. Should I be the same I was before the...er...incident, or should I keep distance or..," he continued, but was cut off by Rose's finger on his lips.

"We'll see what happens. I think I can deal with anything you throw at me. Except the cold shoulder. Do anything, just not that again. You made me feel like you wanted me to go, just didn't have the guts to drop me off."

"I already said that, but I can repeat if you want me to. I'd never do that to you."

"I know, but..," she trailed off, then suddenly changed the topic, sounding strangely cheery. "Tell me about your children!"

"What?" he asked back, a little shocked by her change of mood.

"Tell. Me. About. Your. Children," she repeated slowly, like she was talking to a child.

"I heard you, but why? And what's with the moodswings?"

"Dunno. I'd just like to hear about them. You don't have to... I'm sorry if it angers you or something," she mumbled, now sounding like a child waiting for a punishment.

The Doctor shook his head. "No, it's okay. I'd tell you about them if I could, but I can't. I didn't know either of them, just my granddaughter, Susan."

"How?" she asked back, now sounding curious.

"Time is not linear, Rose. One day, when I was still in my first body, two elders came to see me. They handed me a thirteen years old girl, saying that she was my granddaughter, then left."

"Wow. That's...," she trailed off, not knowing what to say.

"Yeah, I know. Susan didn't share a lot of things with me either, it would've change the —her- timeline. The only thing she said was that her father -my eldest- and aunts and uncles were born when I was in my tenth body."

"This one."

"Yeah. But it's not gonna happen," he stated.

"Why not?"

"Because I can only have children with another Time Lord. Well, Lady. You see, I'm already a half-blood. And my genes are a little too strange. They tested me, back on Gallifrey, then told me the results. I'm only compatible with gallifreyans," he said in a rush. Rose sensed that it was a sensitive topic for him.

"Are you sure that you can't have them?" she asked. There was something she didn't tell him, but he didn't call her on that. Yet.

"Yeah. The Time War practically erased them from existence," he said, then attempted to break free again. This time her leg didn't stop him, he touched her to move the limb out of the way. Rose couldn't help but notice that his fingers lingered on her longer that it was necessary.

She smiled, then summoned up her courage and grabbed his tie. She dragged his face close to hers and kissed him softly. When she pulled back, he was blushing. He opened and closed his mouth for several times, but no sound came out.

She took pity on him and dropped the topic of his past. It hurt him too much now. She decided to bring it up again later, maybe after their trip to the Powell Estate. "So, what about that cuppa?"

"Right," he started to say, but his voice was oddly high. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Right, I'll go to the kitchen to get the kettle," he said, but didn't move.

"Okay," answered Rose, but even after that, he was still frozen to his place. "Doctor?"

"What?..Oh, okay. I'm going.." This time he actually stood up and started to walk toward the kitchen.

After three steps he turned back, crouched down to her level and kissed her. Then he stood up again, and practically fled the control room.

Rose smiled again and brought her hand to the spot where he kissed her. She moved her other hand to craddle her belly.

After she was sure that he was gone and couldn't hear her, she whispered to the only person who could hear her.

"You see, Baby, sometimes even Daddy is wrong."

* * *

if you leave a review on your way out, you'll make the author very very happy 


	3. genes

Genes

Every member of their family carried the anti-plan gene, and it came from their father's family —pointed out their mother one day. As soon as she said it, their dad started to ramble, telling tales that proved their mum right. But not before reminding her that she is the one their children got the jeopardy-friendly nature from.

A man and a woman were running around the control panel, hitting buttons and pulling levers randomly. Well, one of them knew what he was doing, but his female companion didn't. She tried to copy the movements of the man, but without success.

"No. I told you, you need to hit the red button first, then the purple and then the green. Not the other way around," he scolded. He really had enough of this day.

"No, you didn't say a word about the purple one. Just the first and the third."

"I'm sure I told you. Should we ask the Tardis?"

"No need. She'd just side with you. The old girl loves you more than me," she grumped.

"She doesn't love me more. She just knows me better. I was piloting her when you weren't even a dirty thought," he corrected her with a smile on his face.

"Thanks for reminding me of my conception. You old man."

"Yep, I'm the older. That means that you really should listen to me. So please stop pushing the yellow button."

"Why? What does it do?"

"Er...Well..."

"You have no idea, do you? Not that it's surprising. You don't have a license to pilot the Tardis," she taunted.

"No, I have no idea. So please stop pushing it before you destroy the time vortex. Oh, and I might not have a license, but I'm allowed. Just ask the old girl. And by the way, neither you do have one. And believe me, you'll never be able fly her. Not by the rate you're learning."

"Oi. Don't insult my simple human brain!" she protested.

"Your brain is not a simple human brain, love," he retorted.

Her answer was cut off by the exploding control panel. There were flames and sparks everywhere. With one final, violent lurch the Tardis crashed, sending both occupants to the floor.

The man was on his feet within moments, and run to the panel to check the damage. What he found was beyond his imagination. The Tardis was unconscious, almost dead, he could feel it.

"Shitshitshit," he cursed then turned back to his companion, "let's hope that we're somewhere safe."

"Why?"

"The vortex is gone. So she won't be able to move for a rather long time. We need to find a way to power her up and push our way back into the vortex. We might have to give her our energy too," he said and walked to the door. "Oh, and Serena?"

"Yes, Alex?"

"If we ever get back, You'll be the one calling uncle Jack and telling Dad that you crashed the Tardis!" Without waiting for an answer he opened the door and walked out, only to find himself in a huge garden.

"No way. They're gonna kill me. And as you said, you're the eldest. You are the responsible sibling. So, it's your fault," she stated smugly while following her eldest brother.

"You wanted flying lessons."

"You agreed to teach me."

"But you promised that you'd listen, and not touch anything I told you not to."

"You didn't tell me to avoid the yellow button."

"I did. And then warned you abo...Look out!" he yelled the last part, pulling the girl behind him.

Their argument was cut off in a way neither of them would've thought of in a million years. By a frying pan hitting the tree next to Alex.

"What the hell was that?" demanded Serena, still holding her brother's hand. Her question was soon answered as the screeching reached their ears.

"You! You dirty old alien! How dare you! Leaving my little girl behind, pregnant and alone, then coming back with a new face and an even younger plaything in tow? I bet it was just an accident, you coming back, right?" the voice screamed, but they still couldn't see the woman.

"Illusion field. They see us, but we can't see them," muttered Alex.

"Whatever. So, who did you knock up and left behind?"

Her brother glared at her and answered, "I didn't knock up anybody. I'm married, for Rasillon's sake; you know my wife'd castrate me with a plastic spoon if I even thought about knocking up some other woman."

"That's right," snickered Serena, thinking about her sister-in-law. A moment later Alex joined her.

The owner of the voice noticed their amusement and started to scream again, "You're married? And you think this is funny? I'll give you funny!" Suddenly a hand appeared out of nowhere and smacked Alex.

"Who are you?" asked Serena, still fighting her laughter. But then she turned to her brother, who was gripping her hand almost painfully, and had a desperate expression on his face. He was also swearing, and because the Tardis didn't translate it, she knew he was muttering his favourite dirty phrases. When she realized that she won't get an answer out of him, she turned to the direction the voice came from.

"Who are you?" she asked the air again. The scene flickered, signalling that somebody switched off the illusion field. A moment later she found herself face to face with a murderous looking Jackie Tyler. Her grandmother, who was still glaring daggers at Alex.

Serena turned to look at her brother and saw that he wasn't focusing at Jackie at all. She followed his line of vision, then saw her. A blonde woman standing about ten feet behind Jackie.

Serena was gobsmacked. Her eyes saw that the woman looked like her mother, but she couldn't believe that the...ghost she was seeing was her beloved Mum. Her Mum looked nothing like this; her eyes were never dull, she was always smiling and joking, and her shoulders were never slumped.

She looked back at Alex when she felt him let go of her hand and move towards the Rose lookalike. She also saw Rose stiffening and turning and running back to the house, with Alex following her. He was able to stop her before she entered the mansion. He gently wrapped his arms around her and didn't let her run away.

Jackie also made a move to follow them, but Serena caught her arm and held her back. The elder woman turned back to her.

"Let me go you little..." she trailed off after really looking at Serena for the first time. Until this point she was too occupied with the man to notice the girl next to him. Jackie lifted her hand to Serena's face. Rose's face. Jackie's eyes widened and said, "You...you're my..."

"Hey Grandma!" helped her out Rena before Jackie pulled her into a tight hug. The scene made Rose stop struggling, as she watched the women with interest.

"Oh my God. You're so beautiful. Just like your mother. Oh, wait 'till we tell Rose. She'll be so happy, she'll smile again," she muttered to herself, then trailed off as realization dawned on her. He turned to Alex who still had Rose in his arms. "He's not your... He's your father. And I slapped him. Not that he didn't deserve it, but still. And where is your Rose? Has something happened to her? Is she hurt?" she ranted, but Serena cut her off.

"Grandma, stop. He's not my father. Alex is my brother. And I'm Serena."

"Alex? As in Alexander? The baby's name is going to be Alexander...Wait. If you're not Alexander, or Alexandra, but he is, but you say that you're my daughter. Who are you?" spoke up Rose for the first time since they arrived.

"Well, he is Alex the baby who's not a baby anymore. When did you arrive here?" said Serena, while Alex let go of the now still Rose and waved at Jackie.

"Ten weeks ago. Answer my question!" ordered Rose with a stronger voice. Rena and Alex smiled; this was the mother they remembered.

"Ten weeks. That means that I'm the proof that in two weeks you'll be able to slap Dad for real." She grinned as Jackie's jaw hit the floor and Rose's eyes sparkled with happiness.

* * *

Two hours later they were all sitting on the floor of the Tardis, drinking tea or tinkering under the control panel, respectively.

Pete, who's never been in a time machine, was inspecting the control panel and the rather unusual levers and buttons —or rather bicycle pumps and magic eight balls.

Mickey was busy scowling and alternating between glaring at Alex and eyeing up Serena, until he noticed the looks two other occupants were giving him. Jake's stare promised a very long and dry month on the couch, Alex's was threatening with instant death.  
Jackie was oblivious to this all, she was too busy bonding with her new-found granddaughter. Serena was answering everything she could, careful not to damage the timeline.

Rose was sitting with Alex, who was lying under the panel, in his father's workhole. She was giving him instructions how to fix the Tardis, or at least she tried. After their first visit to Pete's world, the Doctor was trying to take her mind off of Mickey's leaving, so he was giving her a 'what-to-do-if-you-were-blown-out-of-the-vortex' crash course. She remembered very little of the Doctor's speech, but it was enough to get Alex started. After she saw that her son finished most of the work, she asked,

"Tell me about the future?"

"Mu-um," came the groaned answer, "you know that I can't tell you. You might cause a paradox."

"Ok. Then tell me everything you can. I already know that your Dad will come back in two weeks. Where will we meet? How will we go back? Will the whole universe hopping affect my pregnancy? Because I let you know that because of you, little one, the only thing I can eat in the morning and not throw up is marmalade and my head always hurts," she complained, but there was a teasing twinkle in her eyes.

"The headache will pass. You only have it because we're in the wrong universe. Just like the Tardis, I'm connected to our world. And I'm pretty sure that not trying eat a full english breakfast every morning would make most of the sickness go away."

"Tell that to your grandmother. She keeps giving me speeches about the importance of a healthy breakfast," grumbled Rose, then asked, "Can you answer my other questions?"

"Yeah. In two weeks Dad will contact you. Telepathic connection. You'll have to go to Norway and lie about me."

"What?"

"Norway. Bad Wolf Bay. You have to tell him I don't exist. He has to learn it from me later...er...years ago...whatever. Time is not linear. You lie to him, he meets me at home, I tell him a way to get back, he will go back to you three minutes after you saw him," ranted off Alex.

"So, the timey-wimey stuff strikes again?" mused aloud Rose.

"Pretty much, yeah. Oh, and don't tell us about this, ever. Not Dad, not me, not anyone."

"Okay. Is it just you and Rena?"

"What?" he asked back, then understood the question. "Oh. No there's still Sam between us. And no, I won't tell more about him or us. You'll see," he grinned.

After a moment of hesitation she pulled him out of the hole and hugged him tightly.

"Have I ever told you why you were named Alex?" when she felt him shook his head, she explained, "It was because in the last ten weeks you were my saviour; the only thing that kept me sane and alive. I love you, baby," she whispered then let go of him and wiped her tears away.

"I love you too, Mum," answered Alex with a smile and kissed her on the forehead.

"Do you think I could get my hands on your sister before you go back? Mum seems to hold her hostage."

Alex shot her a conspiratory glance. "I divert the dragon's attention, you rescue the princess?"

xxx

An hour later they were ready to go, but it took another to make copies of all the photos the Tardis dropped into Jackie's lap.

After they managed to disengage themselves and promised that they will take care, and will give Rose the letters Jackie and Pete wrote, and won't grow up to be as rude as their father — "a little late, don't you think?" commented Serena —they left Pete's world and returned home.

* * *

But they were the children of a certain Doctor. They carried the anti-plan gene. And that meant that no plan turned out the way they wanted it to. Ever.

"Serena?" asked Alex from his position on the ground.

"Hm?" came the answer.

"What did I tell you about pushing random buttons?"

"That it's exciting and brave and just a little bit dangerous?"

"Yes. But I think the word I used was Don't."

"Damn. I knew I've forgotten something." then "Shouldn't we get up and find the Tardis?"

"Good idea, Rena," he answered. He pushed himself off the ground then helped her sister up. He was way too calm, she noted.

"Alex?"

"Yes Rena?"

"How did this happen? I mean we..."

"I," he corrected.

"Okay, I shouldn't be able to lose the Tardis while we're in the vortex."

„Emergency programme three. You can make the ship throw out every sentinent being if somebody —that isn't one of us- is trying to take control. All you have to do is to pull the orange lever."

"'That' orange lever?"

"Yup. Come on, let's call the Tardis back to us," said Alex, then walked off.

"But how?" she asked, walking after him.

He held up his Tardis key and a psychic paper. "We're going to Cardiff and use the Rift."

"Are you not mad because you know the way back, or are you going to let Mum and Dad and uncle Jack chew me out?" she asked after a while.

A moment later she heard the cheery "Wait and see."

They've been walking for five minutes when he heard Serena stop and let out a little scream of joy.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I found the Tardis!" she squealed and ran to the blue box before he could stop her. Alex followed her, and arrived in time to see her pulling out her own key and open the door. Again, he followed with an uneasy feeling.

The control room looked like the way they left it, so he forced himself to calm down. There was nothing wrong. He kept repeating this until he had the chance to take a look at the control panel.

Everything was wrong. He didn't even need to hear Serena's innocent questions - "Jack? What are you doing here? And when did you start wearing tight leather pants? Mom?" - or the nothern-accented voice's rather loud exclamation of "Who the hell are you and how did you get in?", followed by the unmistakable sound of Jack pulling out his sonic blaster to confirm it.

He had to laugh at the expression on his sister's face when she groaned, "You've got to be kidding! What did we do to deserve this?"

"Blame the genes!" he answered before pulling her into a hug and turning to face the blue eyed man in the leather jacket.


	4. Interlude Two: The son in the fireplace

a/n.: 1, i forgot to put this note up when i posted the chapter first, sorry. to clear things up: this chapter takes place after Doomsday, but before the first chapter of this story.

2, also, i start my exams in two weeks, i have to study, so i don't really have the time to write a proper 'Valiant' chapter, and until then, if I have the time, i'll keep you (hopefully) entertained with shorties, because the plot bunnies don't leave me alone.

3, oh, and a little warning. i'll probably separate the interludes (2nd and 5th chapter so far) from the original stories and post it under another title, because the jumps in the timeline make the story confusing. this way i'll have two separate lines and noone will have to wonder about the random order of the stories. thanks for reading.

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Interlude One - The son in the fireplace

A man and a woman were standing in the middle of a corridor, engaged in a quiet argument. Well, the woman was arguing, and the young man was doing his best to keep himself from snapping at his mother.

"Mom, for the sixteenth time. I have no idea what happened. Really, so please stop bugging me. I'm trying to find a way home."

"I know, Sweetie, I'm sorry. But believe me, it's not a good time and place to be."

"And how come you know that?" asked Alex.

"I've been here before. It happened 'bout fifty one years ago," answered Rose while looking around nervously, but didn't elaborate.

"Aaaand? Where are we?" asked her son, and Rose couldn't smother the chuckle that escaped her, after noticing the excited glint in his eyes. He's always enjoyed the dangerous situations, just like his father.

"On a spaceship in the 51th century. The Madame de Pompadour. And believe me, we want to leave this place as soon as possible. The crew's been killed, and the whole thing is ruled by these evil clockwork-men whose main goal is to steal the ship's namesake's brain," finished the explanation Rose.

"To steal a french tart's brain?" repeated Alex with disbelief, "Did the little thing called 18th vs 51th century escape their attention?"

"No, do you see the window behind you? They are these time window thingies, and they're watching Reinette through them," said Rose, then seeing her son's now brightening eyes, she asked, "Alex?"

"I think I've found a way home!" he exclaimed, "If I can get my hands on one of the devices controlling the windows, I can recalibrate it to take us home," he said, then turned to his mother with a grin that promised her a lot of trouble. "So, do you feel like visiting the 18th century France?"

"No," she said, and for a moment Alex looked crestfallen. "I mean, why should we go? Can't you just take one apart? On this side?" she asked, and something in her tone caught Alex's attention. His mother found it actually painful to even think of going back. He didn't ask about it yet, instead he just replied,

"Because every window is kept up with two modified vortex manipulators. And because we left Dad and Tardis in the 62th century, we'll need the manipulator that keeps up the way from the past to the future. So we have to go back in time to find one and steal it. Come on!" he said, pulling her in the direction of a window.

"I can't," said Rose jumping away from her son, and before Alex could interrupt, she continued, "As I said, I've been there before. I can't risk getting caught."

Alex didn't believe it for a second that it was her reason for staying behind, but decided not to argue, so he just said,

"Okay, then stay here, don't wander off and wait for me," he instructed. He really didn't want to leave her alone, but with her refusing to come with him, he had no other choice. There was another Rose running around on the ship and in the 18th century, so they had to get away, soon, without making a paradox out of the situation.

"You're just like your father," she commented, but it wasn't as light-hearted as it used to be. "Are you sure you don't want to find some less...futuristic...clothes?" she asked while eyeing his jeans and T-shirt.

"No time for that. And I really don't plan on socializing with them. In fact, I think I'll just avoid all of them, steal a manipulator, search for another window and come back for you," he explained patiently, but Rose noted that the excitement was back in his voice.

After a short eyeroll, Rose told Alex about the places she saw time windows at, and silently prayed that her son wouldn't run into his father.

After a quick goodbye, Alex stepped through the window, into a large bedroom. It looked rather expensive, and the furniture suggested that it was a young woman's room.

He worked fast and was careful to be quiet, and it paid off. For the first time in his fifty years his anti-plan gene didn't affect his plan. Or so he thought. Three minutes after he started, he heard voices and footsteps. He quickly stood and hid behind one of the enormous courtains.

While standing there, he understood why his mother didn't want to come with him. She probably didn't want to see his future husband and all-time love snogging the hell out of the uncrowned queen of France. And to be honest, he would've given his right hand to be able to erase the scene from his memory. It was just wrong. He's always believed that his parents belonged together, but now, seeing the Doctor and Reinette he wondered if his father deserved his mother at all. After all, he was eager to replace her with a professional whore.

Three minuter and one departing father later Alex went back to work on the manipulator. But with being rather angry, he didn't notice that he was cuting the wrong wire, with that killing the 'battery' and severing the device's connection to the spaceship.

Nobody's ever realised that this mistake made it possible for Reinette to take the fireplace to Versaille with her without damaging the remaining manipulator, allowing the Doctor to return to the 51th century years later.

But because he didn't know this, Alex just groaned and fought down the urge to kick something, before walking off to search for clothes that didn't scream 'I'm from the future'.

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Seven very long months later –fortunately he was able to make little jumps in time, so it wasn't seven years,- Alex was incredibly relieved to see his father in the king's garden. He even managed to ignore the looks the older man was giving Reinette, and focused on the fact that there must be a working time window in the area.

He was very eager to leave the country and the time-frame behind, seven months were more than enough. He spent it as one of the king's doctors –the irony wasn't lost on him-, and for not the first time in his life he was glad that he decided to attend universities on Earth. 56th century astrophisics and medicine were suprisingly usefule while stranded in the 18th century France.

He was so deep in thoughts of going home –well, to a spaceship, then home- that he failed to notice the Doctor walking towards him. In fact, he actually bumped into the older alien, and was about to apologize for his clumsiness –and pray that his father will forget his face soon- when he noticed the cold glare directed at him. He did a double take at that. Why was he on the receiving end of Ten's glare? He was meant to be the one glaring at the older Time Lord.

His musings were cut short by the Doctor whispering, "Take care of her."

What shocked Alex the most wasn't the fact that he was talked to, but rather his father's tone. It wasn't hard like his eyes, but pained. Like it hurt him to say that; like he was about to lose the most precious thing in his life.

Alex didn't even have the time to ask who he was talking about, because the Doctor hurried away, unknowingly showing Alex the way home. He didn't waste time after that, he went to collect his possessions and the vortex manipulator. Half an hour later he was gone.

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Back on the ship it didn't take long to find Rose. Suprisingly she followed his instructions and didn't wander off.

"Oi. You sound like I go off to find trouble every time you leave me alone," she protested, and Alex decided not to point out that her jeopardy friendliness was legendary in the universe.

"Whatever. Let's go home. I don't feel like running into Dad again," he said and his mother frowned.

"What do you mean 'again'?" she asked, "Did you meet him? What did you see, Alex?"

Alex gave in and said, "Enough to understand why you didn't want to come back with me." He decided not to tell her about the Doctor's mysterious parting words.

Rose nodded sadly and hugged his son while saying, "I forgave him a long time ago. Don't hold a grudge, please. He is your father and he loves us more than anything. Understand?"

Alex looked away; his mother's always could read him well. And her words caused his self-control to slip a little.

"I was so bloody angry. You were...are here, waiting for him, but he ran off with that woman without a second thought. How could he do that? I've always thought that he'd never do that, but...but now I'm not so sure. What if he does it again and leaves you somewhere? What if I'm not there with you then and you get hurt? Hm? What'd happen?... And why didn't you kill him for it? I wanted to wring his neck when I saw him."

Rose remained silent for a while, collecting her thoughts, then spoke,

"I forgave him because I could understood why he fell in love with her. She was smart, beautiful, witty and charming. Everything I wasn't...don't interrupt, son. Compared to Reinette I was a nobody, and I couldn't blame him for realising this. No man would choose the dumb shopgirl from the estates instead of the uncrowned queen of France. I'm over that. And you should forget it too. It's the past."

Alex nodded reluctantly, but inwardly planned to have a long, and maybe painful talk with his father. He's always been protective of his mother, they've had a very close relationship, and the fact that the Doctor was his father wouldn't stop him from giving a piece of his mind to the older man. He also wondered if his father knew about the damage he did to Rose's self-esteem with his little fling.

A moment later he pulled the vortex manipulator out of his pocket. It was working now, the spaceship's energy's charged it up in seconds. He quickly entered the coordinates, but right before opening the vortex he turned back to Rose.

"Look at me for a moment."

"Yeah?"

"I don't care what you or the others say, you, Rose Tyler, are the greatest thing that happened to this universe and there is noone who is worth more than you to me. Not a queen, not a princess and surely not that woman," he said, putting his general dislike of emotional chats aside.

Rose looked up at him with tears in his eyes, hugged him again, then said, "I love you too."

Alex smiled and without another word activated the vortex-manipulator. A moment later they were gone.

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Neither of them noticed that they had an audience. So when they stepped into the vortex, they didn't know that a certain Time Lord heard every word of the last minute of their conversation.

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The Doctor didn't meant to eavesdrop. Really. But when he heard Rose's voice from the room, he became worried. He was sure that he left Rose with Mickey in another part of the ship. So when he heard somebody who sounded like her, he couldn't resist the urge to see if everything was alright.

He wished he had a stronger self control, because of what he saw, he felt his hearts break.

There stood his Rose, an older Rose judging by her longer hair, in the arms of another man.

Another man, who just told her that she was everything to him. A man she loved. A man who wasn't him.

After they were gone, he quickly wiped the escaped tears his eyes, and vowed to forget his love for Rose and let her be happy with the man she truly loved.

With his vow on his mind, he walked off to meet the adult Reinette Poisson for the first time.


	5. what did we do to deserve this

_Everything was wrong. He didn't even need to hear Serena's innocent questions - "Jack? What are you doing here? And when did you start wearing tight leather pants? Mom?" - or the Nothern-accented voice's rather loud exclamation of, "Who the hell are you and how did you get in?", followed by the unmistakeable sound of Jack pulling out his sonic blaster to confirm it._

_He had to laugh at the expression on his sister's face when she groaned, "You've got to be kidding! What did we do to deserve this?"_

_"Blame the genes!" he answered before pulling her into a hug and turning to face the blue eyed man in the leather jacket. What did we do to deserve this?_

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What did we do to deserve this?

Alex turned to face his would-be father with Serena still wrapped into his arms. When he looked at the ninth Doctor, he couldn't imagine why did all the races in the universe called the man the 'Oncoming Storm'. The younger Time Lord's always assumed there was something utterly terrifying about his father's previous incarnation, something like Ten's angry calmness.

He was wrong. The ninth Doctor couldn't have been able to pull off a threatening expression, ever, he was sure. Okay, maybe the eyes were a little scary, but the ears and nose ruined everything.

As he was looking at the older alien, he remembered her mother's words. About him being much like her first Doctor. He agreed with her, there was no other explanation for a couple of things. While most of his features were a mix of his parents', there was something about him that didn't match either of them. Her mother was short and thin, and his father was a tall, lanky and even skinnier. So he had no idea who he's got his frame from. Not to mention his attitude. And his eye colour. But now, looking at Nine, he could imagine.

Suddenly a thought entered his mind, and it seriously unnerved him. His mother was always saying that he was acting like Nine. Did that mean that he was looking...kinda ...cute when he was glaring at people? That'd surely explain Serena's laughing fits and not-guilty expression whenever he was scolding her.

Alex was snapped out of his musings by the object of his thoughts clicking his fingers in front of his face.

"Oi, are you listening to me? I asked you a question," asked the Doctor forcefully.

Alex immediately propelled Serena behind his back before he slapped the Doctor's hand away. "No need to poke out my eyes," he retorted. He crossed his arms over his chest while glaring back, unconsciously mirroring the Doctor's stance.

That was too much for Serena, she burst out laughing. But in wasn't a simple chukle, it was a full-blown laughing fit, the kind that makes people –and in Serena's case Time Ladies- double over. The scene also made the Tardis Team's attention shift from Alex to her.

Alex cursed. He really didn't want them to notice her, he was hell bent on keeping their attention on him, which wasn't really hard. Whenever he entered a room, with or without a companion, people tended to notice him first. With his 6'1" frame –which he apparently inherited from Nine,- he was hard to ignore. That also meant that he was the perfect distraction when her family was in danger.

The same thing happened in Cardiff when Serena was four. The Torchwood agents were so occupied with him, that they didn't even notice the little blond girl holding his hand.

He hoped that something like that would happen in this case too. But he forgot that Serena wasn't a slightly hyperactive four years old anymore. She was a gallifreyan teenager who couldn't control her amusement to save her own life.

"And who the hell are you? His partner in crime?" demanded the Doctor, while Jack was greeting her with a saucy "Hello there, little girl," though neither of them could see her clearly because Alex was still standing in the way.

"Stop it Jack," snapped three voices. The Doctor, Rose and Jack turned their attention back to Alex.

"How do you know my name? Did anyone send you? The Time Agency?" asked Jack, pointing his blaster at Alex again. He didn't really mind it. It shifted their attention back to him.

"Leave him alone, and give him some time to answer," spoke up the young Rose. Alex couldn't help but send an affectionate smile towards her, despite Nine's death glare. She was always the compassionate one. It didn't matter if it was a Dalek or a maid, she was always defending the innocents. Rose Tyler, defender of the Earth, his father called her.

"What did you call her?" spoke up the Doctor, rather loudly. Alex stiffened. He didn't meant to say the last part aloud.

"What?" he tried to play innocent, but as always, Serena had to say something and blow his efforts.

In this case it was a groaned „Alexander Jake Sigma Tyler, you're an idiot." Alex stiffened again, she sounded like their Mum. Whenever they were in trouble, Rose was calling them by their full names. He honestly couldn't count all the times he heard her shouting Alexander Jake, Samuel Michael or Serena Jacquelin.

"Back at you, Squirt," muttered Alex, ignoring two cries of 'Tyler?' and one of 'Sigma?'.

"Don't call me Squirt! Call Sam Squirt!" she retorted, giving away yet another name. But she didn't care. Her brother was humiliating her in front of his parents-to-be. She had to defend herself.

"No. He's not one, but you are," he said, hoping that it would stop the banter. He was wrong as always when it came to Rena.

"Why?" she asked back, pouting.

"Honestly. Can you imagine Sam as a Squirt? Compared to us he is the statue of sanity."

"Well, you're right. But stop calling me that. You old man," she said than promptly hugged him, not caring about their audience. Despite his lack of social skills, she loved her brother, and that was more important than a couple of erasable memories.

"Are you done? Or do you need more time?" interrupted them Nine. When he got their attention, he went on, "So I guess you're siblings," they nodded, "and you're related to Rose here. Her kids, maybe?" He got another nod in return.

His hearts clenched at the thought of his Rose having children with another man, but he didn't let it show. "So, what are you doing here?"

Alex squeezed his sister's hand, silently asking her to let him handle this. She squeezed back. "Well, you kinda lost us."

"Sorry?" For a moment he couldn't help but hope. They knew him. The boy's middle name was his old nickname. He didn't go back to visit companions and their families, and was careful to not take family members as companions, so maybe... Maybe Rose didn't have children with another man. Maybe she had them with hi... No, it's impossible, he reminded himself. The siblings weren't his. The name must've been a coincidence, or it must've been her way of thanking him.

"I said you lost us. Well, the Tardis lost all of us. She lurched one, and Serena accidentally grabbed the orange lever," he explained. Serena had to smile, he didn't blame the incident on her. No matter what happened, he was always the big brother, her personal defender and hero.

"That orange lever? But that means.."

"Yup. Emergency program three. We need to get to Cardiff and call back the Tardis, using the Rift," explained Alex. Nine nodded and turned to Jack. The Captain lowered his gun and went to the control panel and started to enter the coordinates.

"Okay. So Cardiff, present time, here we come. Again. We left three days ago," said the Doctor to Alex, but the younger man wasn't listening. It looked like he was engaged in a strange 'conversation' with his sister. It was the kind that only siblings were capable of; the talking without words one.

For the numerous time, Alex was glad that he was the eldest sibling. That meant that while he was the adult, he was also the big brother in their relationship. He was sure that the latter was the only reason he knew about and understood the Sigma-stare, the language Sam and Serena made up when they were little. The outsiders always assumed that it had to do something with the way they were looking, staring and glaring at each other. Their parents too, were so focused on their eyes that they totally missed the little hand-signs, the true language. Alex didn't. The knowledge saved him from their pranks many times, mostly because they didn't knew that he understood them.

When they realized that their secret was out, he was surprised that they didn't stop using the language. He was even more shocked –and a little touched- when they started to include him too. Being the eldest had it disadvantages too. He was over sixty-five when Sam was born, and was seventy when Serena came to the world.

That meant, that while a gallifreyan child was growing up a little slower than a human one, he was in his early twenties by human years when the others were just toddlers. He wasn't even there when Sam was born, he moved away years before. For years, he only saw the kids when he was babysitting on anniversaries, and their parents were out.

In a few words, it was a miracle that his siblings were so attached to him.

Alex was brought back into the present when he noticed Serena's death glare. He zoned out while she was explaining her plan, and she wasn't happy with him. His sister was never subtle.

"We should tell them. They will have to erase their memories either way. Please. He looks so heartbroken and hopeless," she signed. While she was never subtle, she was extremely emphatic.

"Serena..," he started.

"No. Listen to me. Look at him. He loves Mom, and now thinks that she ran off with one of her pretty boys," came the pleading reply.

"Well, she did. Dad definetly falls into that category."

"Alex! Be serious! He is suffering. We can give him some hope, even if it's just for a couple of hours!" she argued, then decided to change her tactics. "Mom looks unhappy too. She has always hoped that they will have their happily ever after, and now our arrival crashed it," she signed, and Alex sighed. She was playing dirty, using his close relationship with his mother to get him to agree. And she succeeded.

He nodded, but before Serena could tell anything to Nine, he added, "But we're playing with my rules. No shocking major facts. You can erase the memories, but not the heavy emotions."

"That's the point, doofus! He'll be happier."

"My rules or shutting up!"

She pouted a little, but agreed. Alex smiled then went to the control panel where Jack was still struggling with the coordinates.

"Maybe we shouldn't stay in this year. We can't be seen in Cardiff, not yet. Maybe after 2008," he said aloud, winking at Serena, referring to the 'getting captured and meeting past Dad' incident.

"Oh," she caught on. „Do you think we'll need the family's help?" she asked, meaning Torchwood Three. „Maybe we should call Uncle J..."

"Uncle Ianto? Yes, that was the original plan. He'll have the device we need," cut her off Alex, while signing 'No major shocks! Jack leading Torchwood is a pretty big one.'.

"It's a good plan," grinned back Rena, already imagining her uncle Ianto's face when he meets the younger, leather-loving Jack. She turned to the younger Rose, who was unnaturally silent during the whole exchange, "Hey, can I use your superphone?" she asked her.

Rose nodded and handed it to her, but right after Serena passed it over to Alex, she felt herself being dragged back. When she turned back, her mother was still staring at her while holding her hand.

Rose didn't know what to think. On one hand she was incredibly happy to know that one day she'd have a family, and that the Doctor was still a part of their lives. Normally he didn't do domestic, but he did it for her. There was no other explanation for her future children's appearance on the Tardis, and words. On the other hand, she was scared. While the kids admitted that they were her children, they didn't say he was their father, no matter how much she wanted him to be.

But she had to know whose kids were they. The colour of their skin ruled Mickey out, and with Serena calling Jack 'Jack' instead of 'Dad', the captain was out of the picture as well. So when her daughter was standing in front of her, she grabbed her turned the girl back to her, so she could search her face for familiar features. For a minute she could only see her own face, but soon she could see the differences too. Like the freckles Serena had on the bridge of her nose, or that her eyes were a different sort of brown, with light blue flecks.

Rose did a double take at that. The shade of the blue reminded her of somebody else in the room. When she looked at the person at the control panel, she found herself staring into a pair blue eyes. They were exactly like the ones she fell in love with, but they were on a different man. They were the eyes of her son. She rested her gaze on him for a couple of seconds, then looked at her Doctor before turning back to Serena, waiting for her to say it's true.

Rose couldn't help but smile and hope while looking at Serena questioningly. The girl suddenly turned to her brother, shooting a pleading look in his direction. Alex seemed to understand what she was asking, and after a short eye-roll he nodded. A moment later Serena was facing her again, with a very familiar gigawatt grin on her face. This was all Rose needed, she laughed. She pulled the girl into a tight hug while locking her gaze with her son, who was still standing at the panel with crossed arms and a smile.

The moment was broken by Jack. He obviously followed the exchange and realized the same thing Rose had. But unlike Rose, he had to voice it in a dramatic fashion.

"Oh. My. God," he gasped, not even trying to be subtle while looking at the four of them. "You...you're..he is..."

"Calm down Jack. It's not your time to kick the bucket yet, so please don't have a heart attack," smirked Alex, knowing what his uncle's response would be. No matter what time, it was still Jack.

"I don't know. Would you give me a mouth-to-mouth if I had one?" leered the ex-conman.

Buy me a drink first, pretty boy," shot back his father's usual comment Alex.

After the exchange Alex turned his attention back to the superphone Serena tossed him a moment earlier, ignoring the ninth Doctor's confused questions of 'What? What are you laughing and...hugging about?'. He was deep in thoughts when he heard Serena calling his name.

"What?" he asked his sister.

"I asked 'What are you thinking about?'"

"Oh. I was just thinking that it'd be easier if we went to the 21th of February in 2011 instead of '08. Sammy will be there, but Aunty J will be away on a trip," he explained, mentioning their brother who was replacing Tosh –she was on maternity leave-, and their Jack, who was in London for a rather boring conference.

"Good idea. He might have his own Tardis key with him. And the more keys we have, the easier it will be to call the old girl back to us," finished his plan Rena.

"Yup. Now I see you really are my sister and not just a stray Mum picked up on some planet," said Alex, finally agreeing to Serena's plan. She realized this too, and grinned smugly. During the whole conversation she was watching her brother, who kept sneaking glances at their future father. It didn't take long for him to see the devastation on Nine's face. He was putting on a brave face, but the siblings- who were trained in seeing through his mask,- weren't fooled. They saw how much it hurt the Doctor to imagine his Rose with another man. Alex accepted that Serena was right. The man deserved the hope of a happy future.

„Oi. Don't insult me. You were there for the last weeks when Mum was pregnant, you're always complaining about being there when I was born. Heck, you were the one coming up with the name Serena."

"Don't remind me," he said, then turned back to Rose, who was looking quite interested, "I was home because I had this nasty dallian flu. Dad didn't let me out of his sight for weeks, he was afraid something bad would happen. You can never know, with our anti-plan gene and jeopardy friendliness..." Rose didn't hear the last sentence, because she was occupied with not knowing what the dallian flu was. So she asked.

"In a few words, besides being a nasty flu, dallian flu heightens the sense of hearing and sight in a very painful way," explained Nine, getting quite confused with the story. Alex looked about four or five years older than Serena. How the hell did a human child get infected with dallian flu? The dallians've never set a foot on Earth, the temperature was lethal to them. So how did the virus make it to Earth? And anti-plan gene?

Alex nodded in agreement, while fiddling with the control panel. He's already texted Sam, so his brother was waiting for them with his Tardis key.

"Now imagine my torture. You went into labour, so Dad stayed by your side, which meant that I had to take care of Sammy for the time. Believe me, taking care of a screaming toddler while having supersensitive hearing is not a fun task. It was down right painful. Like someone was having a party in my skull with a sledgehammer. And then Serena was born, and she immediately joined Sammy in the wailing department. Boy, I hated both of them with a passion then."

"And why Serena?" asked Nine. On Gallifrey it was the name of the first sentinent Tardis. He wanted to know if it was another 'thank you' gift from Rose, or she had another reason.

"Well, Mum's first idea was Jackie. Dad disagreed. In his dictionary Jackie equals a slap. So with Sam being Sam, he wanted something that started with an 'S'. So Serena came up. It had a nice ring to it. Sam and Serena," he said, noting Nine's suspiciously narrowing eyes. He didn't mention that Jackie was Serena's middle name, or the fact that it was only the middle because their father's known Serena long before she was born.

"And it was the name of the old girl's mother. Dad thought it was a good idea too. He wanted to honor Tardis with naming his first daughter after her mother," he finished his tale with a smile. It was true, but he left out a tiny detail. After he presented his ideas, his parents laughed and his father made a comment about now knowing the origins of the name Serena. Obviously that was the moment when he realised the name didn't came up just because the paradox Alex caused.

Nine narrowed his eyes. Their father was a passanger too? And the boy kept mentioning Sam as his brother. Sam, who had a Tardis key and was working in Cardiff in 2011. When the hell were they born? Obviously not in the 21th century. A thought entered his mind. God, Jackie must've been mad. He left her daughter somewhere in the 90's. Yup, that must be the case, he decided. There was absolutely no way they were his time travelling children.

He noticed that Alex and Rena were staring at him with annoyance. He glared back at them, but it was a little difficult as they were standing on two sides of the control panel. He ignored his snickering companions. Serena was the first to speak up.

"You still don't get it, do you? I will so remind you of this the next time you call somebody a stupid ape," she groaned.

"You really don't understand. Hell, even Jack's realized it... Oh, come on. You're supposed to be the smartest being in the universe" continued to bait him Alex. "Oh, we've landed," he said and walked to the door.

"Hey, Doc, why can't we land this smoothly all the time?" asked Jack and Rose just laughed. She took Serena's hand and dragged her out of the Tardis. Noticing the Doctor's glare, Jack quickly followed them, leaving Alex and Nine alone.

"What the hell is this about? Who are you?" asked the frustrated Nine.

"You already know that. Quit the denial."

"I don't know what are you talking about," answered the Doctor. It really had to be a cruel joke. There was no way...

Alex didn't answer just looked out the door. He saw Sam emerging from the hub, followed by Ianto. Serena immediately jumped into her brother's arms, and was talking with incredible speed. No doubt, he was updating him on the recent events. A moment later Sam looked at him and nodded. He understood Serena's plan and agreed to it. When Rena turned back to him, he signed to them with his left hand.

...3...

"So, Doctor, do you want to know who we are?" Nine nodded

...2...

"Well, I could just explain it,"

..1...

"but showing you is easier."

At Alex's signal, the three Sigma-Tyler closed their eyes and concentrated on lowering their mental shields and showing Nine who they really were.

It was over in a minute. They re-erected their walls; Rena and Sam went back to chatting with Rose and Jack, and Alex was alone with Nine again.

"So? Do you believe it now?" he asked.

"It's impossible," whispered the Doctor, but in the same time he pulled Alex into a hug. "Impossibleimpossibleimpossible," he repeated, but didn't let go of his son. Son. There was a strange but good feeling in his hearts when he said it. Son. No, sons. And a daughter. He let go of the now fidgeting Alex –he really didn't seem comfortable with relatively strange men hugging him-, ran out of the Tardis and didn't stop 'til he reached Sam and Serena. Without a word he grabbed them too. Nobody said a word, even Jack sensed that it wasn't the time for a Captain Jack one-liner.

After a good minute or two he let go of them, but kept following them with his eyes. He was afraid they'd vanish if he turned away. Without looking he grasped Rose's hand, and she squeezed back. Jack was grinning at them.

Meanwhile Alex wandered over to Ianto, who was eyeing the young Jack's ass. He didn't bother to stop, not even when he heard his godson coming up behind him.

"So I take you like what you see," teased Alex.

"Yeah. I'm definetly getting a leather trouser for Jack and will get rid of that greatcoat. It's a sin to hide that arse. Oh the things I could do... " answered Ianto, looking wistful.

"Okay. Too much information," spoke up Alex before Ianto could elaborate. „Do you have a..."

"Yes, I have the vortex manipulator, I figured you might need it. And Sam gave me his Tardis key; he suspected he'd be distracted," replied his uncle while handing over the mentioned things. "It's bad my Jack can't be here. He always loved the ninth Doctor; he would've been happy to see this scene. His Doctor being happy."

"I know, but it's too risky. Right now it's not exactly a paradox; but it would be with two Jacks in the same time. He'll have to be happy with watching the CCTV."

"I know. I have Tosh taping it," seeing Alex's confused gaze he added, "She is back to work. Sam asked me to tell you that he is going home with you when you get back your Tardis."

"Okay. Is it a boy or a girl?"

"A boy. Gareth."

"Is he alive? I mean does he have a heartbeat?"

"Of course he has. Why wouldn't he?"

"Well, being our resident deadboy's son..."

"Oh, shut it. He's been alive for two years," scolded him Sam with a smile, also joining the conversation. „And he will live a normal human life. Not like our favorite uncle here."

"What do you mean?" spoke up Jack.

"Let's just say, impossible things are ordinary in out little family," smiled at him Ianto. The younger Jack grinned back, and was about to ask his opinion about spending some quality time together when he received a swift kick from Serena. He looked at her.

"Stop it, Jack. You don't want to piss off his significant other," she warned, but the glint in her eyes were teasing. „He is a big mean man in a RAF coat."

"Oh, ok," answered Jack, seemingly disappointed and a little bit scared. Ianto just kept smirking, Alex and Sam snorted.

A moment later Ianto clapped Alex in the back, and was about to suggest that he should start calling the Tardis, but Alex stopped him by jumping away from him like he was on fire.

"What the hell?" he demanded, „You...you're..." he trailed off. Nine and Rose immediately stepped closer, asking if everything was alright. Serena grinned, they were already acting like concerned parents. But Alex ignored them and went on, "Did you snog a vortex manipulator while I was gone? Or maybe the time vortex itself?"

Ianto and –susprisingly- Sam just laughed, then their uncle spoke up, "I was going to say that you should call the Tardis. And after entering the vortex, you should go and fix the An'csin'nitha'la glove."

"The thingamawhatsis?" asked back the confused Time Lord.

"Fix the Resurrection Gauntlet. It'll be useful on not only one, but two members of the team," answered Sam and Alex's eyes widened in understanding and surprise. He understood that somebody must've used it to lengthen Ianto's life span. The centuries were still near nothing compared to Jack's life as the Face of Boe, but at least they could spend more time together than the average human life.

And he was surprised because he didn't know that, "We have a Risen Mitten?"

"Yup. How the hell do you think we brought back Ow... deadboy?" asked Ianto.

"Um... Aunty J snogged him alive? Wouldn't be the first time he did that," answered Rena, shooting a meaningful glance in Ianto's way, who blushed. "But back to the original topic, we really should go."

Alex nodded then collected the Tardis keys. He connected them to the vortex manipulator, then cut his palm with his pocket knife and let his blood drop on the device. He noticed Rose's worrying expression so he explained,

"There are Huon particles in the heart of the Tardis and in my blood. The particles can age, so because I'm connected to the old girl, my particles' age is the same as hers'. So this way the vortex manipulator knows which one of the many Tardises in the vortex it should call for."

Rose nodded though looked a little confused, Alex understood why. She wasn't his more than a century old Mum who had decades to get used to her family's techno-babble. His would-be father simply looked impressed and more than a little proud. Smug would be a better word; he not only had a son, he had a smart son. Well, sons, Sam must be a genius if he was anything like his older brother. Not to mention Serena, who was clearly familiar with the laws of time; beside the name-incident, she was really careful about what she was saying. His musings were cut off by the familiar sound of a materializing Tardis.

"Well our ride's arrived. It was good to see you," said Alex, and was about to open the door when Serena and Sam dragged him back, to the amusement of the others.

"Please forgive him. He lacks some very important social skills, but don't worry he makes up for it in rudeness," grinned Sam while his brother glared.

"Sounds like somebody I know...," quipped Jack, and the Doctor immediately joined his son in the glaring department.

"Are you having fun? If not, I'm full of embarassing baby stories," spoke up Alex, and his siblings stopped laughing immediately. "Okay, we really should go. I don't want a paradox, and I'm sure you all agree," he continued, and everyone shuddered at the thought of a paradox.

The Doctor was the one to break the short silence, "We won't be allowed to remember you, will we?" he asked with a sad smile. He realized this in the minute they revealed their secret. If he was allowed to remember, they wouldn't have tried to keep their identity a secret when Serena wandered into his Tardis.

"No. I'm sorry," answered Serena, "but you'll meet us soon, don't worry."

Ianto snorted at that. "Don't listen to her. Feel free to worry. I've known them for three years, but believe me. They're the terrors of the Universe," he warned, ignoring the noises the siblings let out, then turned to them and said, "You really should go. And remember. It's a paradox, so you're free to help as long as it goes unnoticed. And don't forget to fix the holes."

Before either of them could ask what holes was he talking about, they all were grabbed and hugged by their uncle. He was followed by their mother, Jack and lastly their father.

After he was released, Alex turned to him. "You'll have to supress the memory. Don't cheat. Really. I liked the shocked expression on your face when you met Rena for the first time."

"Okay. I'll do the same for Rose and Jack."

"No need," interrupted Ianto and pulled a little box out of his pocket. "Retcon. It'll erase this afternoon from their life." The Doctor nodded with agreement. He really didn't want to mess with their memories himself.

After another set of goodbye-s Serena, Alex and Sam finally entered their Tardis. The boys immediately went to check the control panel while Serena threw herself on the pilot's couch.

"That was a long day," she said, "but I'm glad we met them."

"Same here."

"And here," added Sam, "but I'm sure I don't know half of the story."

"I'll tell you once. It involves Serena tearing down the walls of reality while attempting to land the old girl in Cardiff."

"God Rena. You never learn? Pulling random levers is bad..."

"And exciting," added Serena.

"Now, where did you leave Mum and Dad?" asked Sam from Alex.

"12th of November, 2008, in London. And be careful, I had to pull down the shields to call her to us," came the answer.

"Okay. London, here we come," said the second-eldest, then pushed the button that starts the dematerialization.

A moment later they all were on the ground. Again. Sam was the first to open his eyes and check the Tardis.

"Er, Alex? The Tardis shouldn't be like this, should she?" he asked, referring to the red control panel in the center of the room.

"Nonononono," muttered the eldest.

"I don't understand. The monitor says it's the right date," spoke up Serena, also confused. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was incredibly wrong.

"It's the right date. But in the wrong timeline," explained Alex quietly, motioning for Sam to open the door. He did as he was told.

When he stepped out he found himself in a basement-like room, but he barely noticed his surroundings. All he could see was the sign on the wall.

The Valiant. 


	6. Interlude Three: The Shakespeare child

a/n.: references to chapter 4 and 5

a/n2.: this is the last part of the interlude series, and i swear it'll make perfect sense as soon as i add the last chapter of WtFH.

* * *

The Shakespeare child

The Doctor was doing his best to guide his wife through the busy marketplace, while making sure she understood that this time, it really wasn't his fault.

"Rose. I mean it, I didn't have anything to do with this mess. I swear."

"Oh, really? The who do you think is responsible? Tardis? Your evil twin? The bag of jelly babies in your pocket? Or the martians maybe?" ranted Rose, clearly irritated with her husband. She didn't even try to be quiet. She was mad at him, and did nothing to hide that fact from him. Or from the innocent bystanders, who stopped to watch the scene. She didn't care, that half of the people listening to her thought that she was crazy. She was in a foul mood, and she wanted to let out her anger. And maybe a few tears too, because being stranded in the 16th century wasn't her definition of a holiday.

The Doctor was having a hard time too. It wasn't the first time that he miscalculated something and visited a place with a previous self still there, but it was definetly the first time he did it with a woman with her head in hormone city. But the worst thing of all was that she was nine months pregnant, so he couldn't just tell her to shut up and listen. He had to be extra careful and gentle, and had to put up with her calling him an idiot in twelve languages. And thinking of languages, he really had to have a word with his eldest about teaching Rose how to swear.

But back to the topic, "The Tardis wouldn't leave us stranded here, and as far as I know, I don't have an evil twin running around. And the jelly babies are peaceful little things. Also, no, it couldn't have been the martians. They wouldn't be able to operate the old girl even if she let them. Not even with an 'Operating a Tardis for dummies' book," he explained with a quiet chuckle, "And as I said it's not my fault, so it leaves one person as the culprit."

"Who?" sniffed Rose, resting a hand on her belly. The Doctor's hand joined hers there as he answered.

"That'd be our dearest eldest," he said, while edging away from his wife, waiting for an explosion.

It didn't come. Instead, she asked, calmly, "And why would Alex get us stranded in the 16th century England?"

The Doctor was gobsmacked. If it had been his fault and admitted it... he really didn't think about what would have happened. Only their sons could get away with anything.

"I really don't think he did it on purpose. He must've fixed the time-space stabilizer, but forgot to tell me about it. So now, when we landed too close to my past self in time, the timelines crossed, and the stabilizer took our Tardis back to the vortex. But don't worry. When my past self leaves, the Tardis will come back to us."

Rose nodded, satisfied with the explanation. A moment later she smiled and nudged him, with less force than she would've done five minutes earlier. Then she nodded towards the point where their eldest was standing, with their sleeping second-born in his arms.

The Doctor knew it was wrong, but that didn't stop him for waiting for the hell Rose was going to give their son. He was sure that after the horrors he's endured, it would be quite a show.

"Alex? Did you happen to play with the..er..," she looked at the Doctor for some help.

"The time-space stabilizer?" Alex looked confused, so the Doctor added, "The big red and black box I showed you about ten years ago under the control panel?"

After a slight pause, Alex nodded. "Yeah, I think so. It wasn't burnt out like you said, it's only fault was that two wires were switched up. I fixed it. But why do you want to know now? I did it right after you showed me."

"Hold on," interrupted the Doctor's answer Rose, "Are you telling me that the stabili-thingy's been working for ten years?" When Alex nodded, she turned back to the Doctor and asked, "And you, who spends all his freetime in that hole, has never noticed it?"

The Doctor winced, "Yeah. But I haven't been looking for it."

Rose snorted, "Men," then with a strained and obviously forced smile she turned back to Alex and asked, "Did you manage to get two rooms for us?" When she a got a nod as answer, she continued, "Good. Now give me the keys, then make yourself useful, both of you, and get me a doctor."

"Rose, I am the Doctor. What do you need an other doctor for?" asked the Time Lord, then his son decided to throw in his two cents too, and said, "And if it wouldn't be enough, I'm sure you remember that I actually studied medicine. Right?"

"Yes boys, I know. But my water just broke, and I sure as hell won't have either of you deliver Serena. Especially not you, Alex. I'll be probably screaming, then the baby will join me too, and with your dallian flu you'd feel like we were having a party in your skull with a sledgehammer," said Rose, then without waiting for an answer, she walked over to the stairs and stopped, waiting for the Doctor to follow her.

The elder Time Lord turned to his son, and his eyes widened as he caught sight of someone in the corner. He quickly averted his gaze and focused his attention back on Alex, who didn't notice the exchange, because he was too busy dealing with the now awake Sammy.

"Your mother is right. With your..." he trailed off and ran his fingers through his hair. "Do you have any medication with you?" he asked his son. Immediately, Alex put down the protesting Sam and searched his pockets. A minute later he shook his head, and the Doctor muttered, "I thought so," ignoring Alex's confusion at his words.

"I guess you don't have any of it either," spoke up the younger man while picking Sam back up, not asking about his father's words. Yet.

"No. That means that in about five minutes your head and eyes will start to ache, then another five later you'll be praying for the gods you don't believe in for earplugs. Which I don't have on me either."

"Okay. So what do I do?"

"First, get Sammy to eat something. That'll make him sleepy again," he advised, looking at his youngest son. While Sam was already eight, his gallifreyan biology kept him on a stage that meant he was about four years old in human years. It was something the Doctor's always found funny. For the mighty Time Lords it took ten years to reach the maturity and mind-capacity of a five years old human. He's always suspected that it was the real reason behind the invention of their looming-technology. He quickly stopped the musings and continued, "Then you go up to our second room, put your brother down and join him on the land of dreams before the noises start to hurt so much that you won't be able to fall asleep. Try to get some chamomil tea, it might help."

Alex nodded in agreement, then said, "Right. You should go, too. Mum seems to be in pain." Then he hugged his father briefly, squishing Sam between them. "Take care of her."

"I will," promised the Doctor, waving to his youngest. As soon as they got out of his sight, his expression turned serious. He knew what was going to happen, knew that one day in Cardiff his past self would understand it too, but he couldn't stop his hearts from breaking a little.

Carefully, he changed his expression into one of nervous excitement, and went to help his wife up the stairs.

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On the other side of the tavern, the Doctor was listening to Martha, who was telling him about her years as a med student. They had just escaped Queen Elizabeth's guards and the Doctor was ready for the next adventure, but Martha didn't want to leave yet. She said that after such a few days, she deserved a pint. Grudgingly, the Doctor agreed, and set the coordinates, so they would arrive two days before their first arrival.

Martha was in the middle of telling him about her ex-roomate when a newcomer entered the room. The Doctor glanced up briefly, then back to Martha. And a second later it registered in his mind who the man really was, and where was the last time he's seen him.

Carefully, not drawing attention he lifted his gaze back on the brown haired man and studied him. He was fairly young –maybe twenty-three--, tall, and had somewhat familiar blue eyes. Only when he shifted did the Doctor notice the child in his arms. The young boy was about four years old, and bore an uncanny resemblance to the man who was holding him. Though his eyes were different, the Doctor could recognise them anywhere, on anyone. They were Rose's, but flecked with blue. The man's familiar shade of blue.

The Doctor continued to watch the man and the boy, and when he saw the man stumble, he was ready to jump up and go over, while wondering if the man was drunk. He was snapped out of his musing by Martha, who was clicking his fingers in front of his face.

"Doctor, is everything alright? You kinda spaced out a little?" asked the woman.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But we should go. Here's the key to the Tardis, go back, I'll be there a few minutes after you. I have to take care of somthing first," he said.

"I could wait for you here, too," offered Martha, but the Doctor declined.

"Please Martha, go," he said. Martha's heard the plea in his voice, so she left without more questions.

After she disappeared from his sight, the Doctor took a deep breath and walked to the table where a very frustrated human was trying to feed some soup to a squirming toddler. The Doctor sat down, and the motion caused the man to look at him with slightly dazed eyes, trying to determine who he was. After a moment or two the man nodded to himself and continued to feed the boy –or at least, tried.

The Doctor was suprised. The young man in front of him has aknowledged his presence, but didn't do anything about it. He thought that the other man would at least make a comment about the place being the favourite spot of time-travellers. But the human remained silent.

And if there was a thing the Doctor disliked, it was silence. So he cleared his throat. He grinned when the younger man looked up again –the grin was obviously forced, and looked like a grimace, but he didn't care. The stranger started to roll his eyes, but winced suddenly and pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand. The Time Lord had to smile at the little boy's reaction. He hugged the man and placed a 'healing' kiss on his forehead, and whispered something into his ear. The man winced again, and the toddler turned to the Doctor, and in a serious and quiet, but adorably childish voice he explained,

"He is ill. But Mommy's not here to kiss it better, so I have to make him better. When I'm ill Mommy reads me stories, but I can't read him 'cause I can't read. I miss Mommy. I cried, but he hurts when he hears voices too, so I have to be careful to be quiet, so I can't tell him the tales I know too. I'm not Mommy. Will my healing work?" he asked with wide eyes, and both of the adults smiled.

"It will," assured him the man quietly.

The Doctor, without a conversation to hold, started to inspect the other's reaction and appearance. At first he thought that the man was drunk, not ill –children often couldn't notice the difference--, but after sniffing the air quietly, he dismissed the theory. So he started thinking, and soon he had the diagnosis. Glazed and aching eyes, a probably throbbing head, clammy and slightly blue-tinted skin from fever and wincing upon hearing a loud noise equaled a nasty dallian flu. Or rather, a nasty, untreated dallian flu.

"Did you manage to get room here?" asked the Doctor, keeping his voice down. The man nodded slowly. "Let's get you two up there. Maybe I can whip up something that makes you feel better."

The stranger looked confused for a moment, then agreed, "Okay."

With one hand the Doctor scooped up the boy –Sammy, if the name on his T-shirt was his actual name-, and reached out to help his companion climb the stairs with the other. Halfway up he couldn't help but question his own motives.

Why the hell was he doing this? Surely not out of love. After all this was the man Rose loved, instead of him. Then why? To get some answers? No way. He was smarter than to torture himself with the 'what if's. After thinking up and dropping a couple of other possibilities, he realised that he had absolutely no idea. He really, honestly didn't know why was he helping his rival.

In the meantime they reached their destination. The Doctor opened the door with the key the younger male handed him, helped the man to the bed in the corner, then put Sam into the other.

While the young man was untying his shoelaces, the Doctor fished a bottle of water –he didn't trust the one in the jug in the room--, and couple of pills out of his pockets. He started to mix the medicines together, but before he could add the last tablet -the one that would've change the DNA of the virus so much, that Sam wouldn't be able to catch the flu- to the pile of pills, the man spoke up.

"Not contagious anymore, no need for that. Really. And the pill makes me nauseus," he whispered, nodding towards the last pill with some difficulty, then added, "Wouldn't have agreed to babysit Sammy if there was a chance he could catch it, you know," he finished, while looking at the Doctor weirdly. Like everything he said was obvious and the Time Lord should've known that.

The Doctor nodded a moment later in understanding. It really did make sense. Rose wouldn't have left her son with somebody who could make him ill. And speaking of Rose...

"So, where is Sam's mother?" he asked.

For a long moment the man was looking at him like he was retarded, but then smiled and answered with a quiet laugh, like he thought the question was just a joke, "Busy giving birth, I think. Not sure."

The Doctor nodded again, and handed the mix of pills to the man, along with the water. He swallowed them without hesitation. That made the Doctor ask, "How do you know I didn't just poison you with those pills?"

The man chuckled again. "Well, if you did, I'd just have to sic a certain blonde on you. I'm sure she'd kill you for placing her son in danger," he said, but his words were slightly slurred. The meds were already working, soon he'd be asleep.

"That she would," agreed the Doctor with a smile. "So, giving birth? Boy or girl? Who is with her? She is not alone right?"

"Girl, Serena. Starts with an S because of Sam. Though I still think it would be nice if it started with an A, like Alex. Me. And not alone. Dad's supposed to be with her," he muttered, the last part with a slightly unfriendly glare. "And thanks for the help, but would you mind not quizzing me? It's just flu, not concussion, no need for a trip down on memory lane. Don't you have somewhere to be?" he asked, his speech even more slurred. The sleep aid he gave the man –Alex maybe?—kicked in, he was falling asleep.

He helped Alex lay down, then turned to walk away. But he caught sight of Sammy, who was trying to climb into the bed next to Alex. Without a word, he lifted him up and put him next to man the Doctor thought was his father. Immediately Sammy burrowed his way into Alex's arms, who moved to make some place for the little body and pulled the boy closer, protecting Sam in his sleep. Then the Time Lord picked up a blanket and covered them up with it, unconsciously treating him like they were his children.

He was suprised to realise that he didn't hate Alex as much as he thought he would. But the suprise turned into pain when he accidentally touched the man's head while tucking him in. He was hit by a memory. Future or past, he didn't know, and he didn't care. Seeing Rose hugging Alex and telling him 'I love you' was enough. Pete and Jackie were there too, smiling at them, and that meant that the young man was the one to bring Rose back from the parallel world. He didn't want to dwell on the scene.

The Doctor quickly made his way to the door, and was halfway out, when a sleepily muttered "Thanks Dad" reached his ears. He turned back to see Alex close his eyes and go back to sleep.

The Doctor didn't know what to say, the young man was obviously delirious, so he just gave the sight a pained smile and left the room without another word.

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The younger Doctor didn't know that someone was watching him. Someone who knew how he was feeling.

The older Doctor, father of three, followed his younger self with his eyes until he disappeared, before entering his sons' room.

He stepped to the bed, crouched down and kissed his younger son's forehead, then did the same to his eldest.

He tucked them in again, then left the room and went to join his wife and newborn daughter.


	7. the last of the Time Lords

a/n2.: yes, i am alive and back. sorry for the 'slight' delay -- i accidentally deleted the almost finished story back in july, and couldn't be bothered to type it up again -(more than 7800 words, and english is not my first language). until now :)

a/n3.: direct reference to interludes 2 and 3, you might want to (re)read at least 'The son in the fireplace'

a/n4.: killing the author is bad, illegal and punished. keep that in mind while reading

enjoy the story

* * *

When he opened the door, he found himself in a basement-like room, but he barely noticed his surroundings. All he could see was the sign on the wall.

The Valiant.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Shit," was the only thing Sam could think of.

"Something like that, yeah," answered Alex while examining the console. Suddenly it shifted back to normal, causing the eldest to jump back. "Whoa. What the hell?" he questioned, but it was clear that he didn't expect an answer. Instead, he started switching, pulling and pushing things, while not looking away from the monitor.

Sam walked up to him and also started to frown at the readings. Serena, the only one who couldn't fly the Tardis or understand the readings properly, spoke up, "What's happening?"

Her brothers exchanged a look, then Sam turned to her and said, "There are two Tardises in the same place and time."

"So, that happened before. What's the problem?"

It was Alex who answered her question. "Rena. We are at the exact same spot. Around us there are two Tardises. In one shell. In the heart there are two vortexes. "

"And what does that mean?" she asked, fearing the answer. Alex and Sam looked scared, and that fact in turn scared her. She's always believed that there was nothing in the universe her father and brothers were truly afraid of.

"It'll blow up in twenty minutes," answered Alex curtly, his attention back on the console.

"And it'll probably take the 2/3 of the universe with it," added Sam with a grim expression on his face.

"So, how can I help you to stop it?" she asked upon seeing them working. They finally looked at her, then exchanged another look with each other. Alex nodded to Sam, then continued his work.

The middle child turned to his sister. "That's the problem. There is no real solution. We can't separate them, not when the younger one is...cannibalized. That'd kill her. So we have to make them become one..." he trailed off, trying to collect his thoughts.

"I hear a 'but' coming."

"Yeah. We have to decide which Tardis will be the dominant. If we choose ours, then we will cause a paradox by breaking the original paradox, and the universe will blow up. If we choose the younger one, ours will turn against us too. She will throw us out, right into the Master's arms. And he will surely have us meet Dad, and that will cause yet another paradox, and again, the universe will blow up," he finished.

"So basically it's a lose-lose situation?"

"It is. So let's make the best of it," announced Alex, finishing whatever he was doing at the console. "Follow me, I have an idea."

The younger ones did as they were told, and let the eldest lead the way down the never-ending corridors. After a few turns, he stopped, turned to face Serena and Sam, then pointed at the door behind him.

"Here's our best chance," he said, but couldn't explain what he meant because Sam cut him off.

"Are you crazy? Do you even know what this room is? We can't do this!"

"You're right. We can't. But the two of you can. It'll be alright. I'll keep you safe, I promise," defended himself Alex, while Serena just stood there, confused. She really didn't like to not know what was going on.

"It's not about keeping us safe, you moron! It's about the fact that it's an idiotic plan. First mistake. If you stay behind to keep us safe, he'll sense you, hunt you down and kill you, preferably in front of Dad. Then hello paradox... Second mistake, you told me about this plan. I'm not going to let you endanger yourself. If you stay, I stay with you," argued his point Sam in a harsh whisper. He wanted to yell at Alex, but didn't want to risk waking up the cannibalized Tardis again.

"No, you don't. I can pull this off. I can hide myself. So don't argue with me, because it's pointless. I'm the eldest, so it's my responsibility to keep the two of you safe."

"We're not children anymore, you don't have to risk yourself to protect us! We can make a decision. I did. So, stop being the worrying big brother and let me help you."

"You're wrong. You'll always be my first priority," answered Alex, ignoring his brother's comment 'I bet your wife would love to hear that'. "You've been since you were born, and nothing will change that. Ever. So stop arguing and go into the room."

Sam opened his mouth to argue –despite his brother's request--, but before he could make a sound, Serena interrupted him by clearing her throat.

"Okay. Now would either of you explain to me what the hell are you arguing about? Because you lost me. What's behind this door? What is so important that you have to waste precious minutes by arguing?" she asked, sounding really annoyed. Sam told Alex that they were adults, arguing about their ability to make decisions. Hypocrite with double standards. He practically ordered Alex to stop treating them like children, but he didn't even think about cluing her in, asking her opinion about the decision their brother wanted to make. Like she was a child unable to take care of herself.

After her outburst, Sam turned to her, ran a finger through his short brown hair, then explained, "This is the room where Dad stores the Chameleon Arch. Alex wants the two of us to use it."

Serena whirled around to face Alex. ''Are you crazy?" she echoed her brother. "And what about you?"

Again, it was Sam who answered. "He plans to hide our fob watches, then make a run for it, using his cloaking ability to evade the Master's attention."

"Okay. You are crazy, there is no doubt. That's suicide. And what cloaking ability?"

Alex sighed, then started speaking. "I can hide myself from other Time Lords. Well, not exactly hide, but make them think that I'm something else, not a gallifreyan."

"Oh. And how come you can do that? Wait, scratch that. Why can't Sam and I do it?"

"It's because of Mum. When she absorbed the Vortex, the Tardis started to change her genetic make-up. It was a very slow process. And actually that's the reason of the huge age gap between us. I was born at the beginning of the change, when she was a human with pieces of the Vortex floating in her. Then because of the change, she wasn't able to be pregnant with a gallifreyan child for decades, until she was finished, so to speak. You know the rest," he ranted off, nodding towards Sam.

"So because of her different genes, Sam and I are Time Lords, but you're more like a half-blood with the Time Vortex in you," concluded Serena, and Alex nodded in agreement.

"And why don't you tell her what do the others feel instead of a Time Lord mind?" spoke up Sam, clearly knowing the answer. "Come on Alex, tell her," he ordered. When the eldest started fiddling with the door instead of answering, he turned back to his sister and continued, "The Master will sense somebody very similar to Jack. Some kind of fact in time. And of course, he will investigate. He will think that you're immortal too. He'll kill you, then be disappointed that you don't 'gasp' back to life. And of course, without the Tardis you won't be able to regenerate," he finished his angry rant. Then, "You really don't care about that, do you?" he asked, the shock of the discovery evident in his voice . "You can't do that!"

Alex continued to ignore them. He opened the door, stalked into the room and powered up the Arch. The younger sibling reluctantly followed him in, Sam with a now really angry glare.

But much to their surprise, it was Serena who moved over to the machine. She strapped herself in without a word, then turned to Alex.

"Promise me something, please," she asked. When Alex asked what did she want, she continued, "I want you to use the Arch too. And before you start protesting, hear me out... I want you safe. And as a human you'll be."

"The Arch doesn't work on me like that. I'll still have traces of the vortex in me, but I won't be able to keep the two of you safe this way. You don't understand. Even if I'm hiding, I can still feel the two of you in my head. As a sort of human, I can't."

"We will be safe. Here on the Valiant," she announced, then waited for the explosion.

"WHAT?" chorused her older siblings.

"Sam and I will stay here. We will help Jack and Dad and the Jones'. You will go down to the planet, find Martha and walk the Earth with her, keeping her safe."

"Serena. The Master is on the Valiant. So is Dad and Jack. They will realize whose kids you are," said Alex.

"Yup. Not if we wear perception filters. The Master is only able to see through the ones that are connected to the Tardis."

"But.."

"No 'but'. You want to stick us into this thing," she gestured to the Arch, "to keep us safe? Okay. But I refuse to be left behind in a Torchwood safe-house –yes, I know that was your plan-- without my memories, while you're out there, risking your life to protect us. So, here's a deal, take it, or we're going with you," she finished, leaving no room for an argument.

After long seconds, Alex nodded. "I promise."

Serena sent a small smile in his way, then put the last piece of the machine on her head.

"I could force you to go along with my plan," remarked Alex quietly, while fiddling with the buttons. "You couldn't stop me."

"I know. But I trust you," answered Serena, "See you later, Alex."

"You too, Rena," whispered the eldest, then pulled the lever and tried to ignore his sisters pained screams. Sam turned away, he couldn't bear the sight. The whole procedure was over in twenty seconds, but to them it felt like twenty minutes.

Serena slowly opened her eyes, trying not to panic. She remembered everything, and for a moment she regretted asking Alex to let her keep her memories; because this way she was aware of everything she was missing. Her second heartbeat, the spin of Earth, the Vortex and the presence of her family in her mind.

"Good morning, Serena Jacobs, 20, maid, employed by Lucy Saxon," greeted her Sam. In his hands was the psychic paper, with the information written on it. She nodded, trying to sort out her brand new memories.

A few seconds later she was released, and Sam took her place in the Arch.

"If you make me into a damned dinner boy, I'm going to hit you," he warned his brother with a half serious smile on his face. Alex nodded, recognizing the olive branch, then pulled the lever. Sam's screams –though only after ten seconds--, too, filled the room, and Serena clamped her hand on her mouth to stop herself from joining him.

Again, twenty seconds later Sam was opening his eyes. Serena grabbed the psychic paper, and read aloud who her brother was.

"Samuel Michaels, 22, mechanic, employed by the chief engineer of Valiant."

"Any complain?" asked Alex dryly.

"Why not the chief engineer?" teased back Sam, his tone lighter than earlier. He was still furious with Alex for his big brother-complex, but now he was calmer and could understand the elder better. He would do anything to keep his siblings safe, too.

Alex helped him out of the chair, and was about the power the Arch off, when Serena cleared her throat pointedly, then shot a meaningful look to her brother.

"Okay, okay. Worth a try," he said. Like the others before him, he strapped himself in, then put the helmet on his head and waited for Sam to start the procedure. He managed to stay silent for nine whole second.

"You won," he muttered to Sam after opening his eyes. His brother grinned in response.

"Welcome to the world, Alex Smith, 26, medical student, travelling companion of Martha Jones," announced Serena. Alex only rolled his eyes; the next two months were going to be horrible. He's never gotten along with the ex-companion. The possibility of friendship between them died a quick and ugly death in Torchwood Three's cells in 2008 of the other timeline.

"Let's hope she'll arrive in one piece," commented Sam, who knew about the two's not-so loving relationship.

"How much time do we have?" spoke up Serena, reminding the boys of the possible destruction of the universe.

"Eight minutes. Come on. I've already programmed Tardis, she'll blend with her younger self, we'll have to be gone by then," said Alex, then ran into his room. A minute later he came out with a backpack. "Don't you want to take anything?" he questioned the others, who, instead of answering, hurried into their respective rooms.

Four minutes before deadline the siblings were standing in the Console Room, ready to go.

"It's just a couple of weeks. We'll be alright. You'll get to play maid to a lunatic and see Dad go up in pretty lights, and I'll get to... well, wander around like an idiot, telling fairy tales to scared to death humans. Oh, joy," told Alex to Serena, who was clinging to him stubbornly.

"Can't you stay with us?"

"He can't, Rena. The Master will sense the fob-watches if we keep them near him," answered Sam, pulling Serena off Alex, into his own arms. "He has to go. So do you," he added, "We can't be seen together. Go to the room the Tardis created for you, before the guards arrive. I can be here officially, but the maids can't come here," he finished.

Serena nodded with a teary smile, the hugged his older brother again. "Take care of yourself. I love you, Old Man."

"Love you too, Squirt," he answered, then let go of her.

With a last glance back, Serena exited the Tardis, and started her new –and hopefully temporary-- life as Lucy Saxon's maid.

"Two minutes, forty seconds," counted Sam quietly, while looking at the door.

Alex turned to his brother. He opened his mouth to speak several times, but always closed it without saying anything. Sam took care of the silence, breaking it with a question.

"What are you going to do?"

"I will go to Cardiff. Jack has a device in the Archives that creates time-bubbles. That'll protect the watches. The team's in London, so I don't have to worry about running into one of them. Then I'll go and find Martha."

"She's in America I think. How do you get there?"

"With the help of this." He held up a vortex-manipulator. "I got it from a drunk Time Agent on Kryss; the whole planet is a paradox, quite interesting place. John Hart was the bloke's name, or something like that. Jack wanted to keep an eye on him, so he'd asked me to switch the Hart's manipulator to a traceable one. I kept the original, thinking Rasillon knows when might I need it to escape my own home."

Sam laughed quietly. "One minute, thirty-two seconds. Which one of us is going to say it?"

"Want the honors?"

"No."

"Okay, then," he cleared his throat, "Take care of yourself. And Serena. Don't do anything stupid. Just lay low. Don't wander off. Be careful. The usual."

Sam just nodded, but didn't speak. Suddenly, he grabbed Alex's arm, and pulled him into a tight hug.

"Everything you said, Alex. They apply to you, too. Because if you get yourself killed in the next weeks, I swear to everything that I'll resurrect you, just to yell at you and kick your ass right back to your grave. Or, if the time reversal resurrects you, I'll just simply kill you," he promised.

Alex laughed quietly, and answered, "I love you, too, little brother."

"Wow. You've said those three little words two times in five minutes. Won't the universe explode? And back at you," teased Sam, trying to mask his worry. Alex'd never been a touchy-feely person; he had to be incredibly afraid of something, to open up like that.

"We evaded one explosion, but it won't be pretty if we don't leave in thirty seconds."

They let go of each other quite reluctantly, with sad smiles on their faces.

"Twenty seconds. Go Sam, the manipulator will set off the alarms."

Sam nodded and stepped out. When he turned back, he said, "Take care, really. Come back in one peace."

"I'll try. But if I don't... Tell everybody..." he trailed off.

"We know."

"Good. Run, Sammy."

The younger Time Lord did as he was told. As soon as he was out of sight, the clock on the Console reached zero, and the Tardis changed back into the red paradox machine. Immediately the intruder alarms went off.

Alex stepped out of the Tardis, and entered the coordinates into the manipulator, then activated the device.

A moment later he was in the rain-soaked Cardiff, on the Roald Dahl Plass, with the locked down Torchwood Hub in front of him.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Getting into the Hub was surprisingly easy, though the team initiated a total lockdown before leaving for London, two weeks after they got back to Wales from the Himalayas. But as he thought about it, Alex realized that he wouldn't have had such an easy time if Jack didn't tell him the all codes back in 2010. The older man explained, that giving the codes to a non-Torchwood member ensured that the incident with Suzie wouldn't be repeated. In other words, if Jack were unavailable or dead, they could just call Alex, and wouldn't have to ask gloating police officers for help. One incident was embarassing enough.

Once he was inside, he fished a chocolate bar out of his backpack and threw it to Myfanwy, then made his way to the Archives. He was surprised when he found it locked. Alex wasn't expecting this, so he spent more time trying to open this door. The trickiest part of the whole thing was finding the device the Archives was locked down with. Ianto was a crafty bastard, it took Alex twelve minutes to locate the Nexusian device in the pterodactyl's nest. And it cost him another bar of chocolate to keep Torchwood's pet away from her nest while he was working on opening the lock.

Fortunately he finished his task before Myfanwy decided that she didn't like the stranger poking around in her home. He quickly climbed down and entered Ianto's domain. Everything was in alphabetical order, so he found the thing he was searching for without any problem.

He took the machine out of its box, then examined it, checking for damage. The device itself was actually a palm-sized hexagon with seven buttons on it. When he found everything functioning properly, he pressed two of the buttons and attached the device to the side box (on the inside), then he put the three fob-watches in there, as well. After this, he packed the box back to it's original place –Ianto would notice if he misplaced it, and would investigate-- , made sure that he bubble coated the whole room. He left the Archives, activated the lock, and walked out of the Hub, initiating the lockdown on his way out.

When he was outside again, he let himself relax a little. Phase one –hide the watches-- was down, two more was to go. He switched on the Vortex-Manipulator and started Phase Two –find Martha Jones, and keep her alive.

Of course he knew that the woman was capable of taking care of herself; she completed her mission without a travelling companion the first time around. But this time, thanks to the older Tardis crashing into the paradox and merging with her younger and changed self, the woman's situation went from bad to worse. Before the crash, the Master couldn't find Martha, because his stolen and cannibalized Tardis wasn't strong enough to get through her perception filter. But two Tardises would be able to find her with no problem.

When the manipulator beeped, he smiled. A moment later he was on his way to America.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Before the deadline, after the rebellion

On the not particulary sunny day Serena J. Sigma-Tyler –now simply Jacobs--, 20, maid employed by Lucy Saxon wasn't a happy camper. For instance, her employer's husband was mad. Crazy. Insane. And said employer wasn't exactly sane either, but Rena honestly couldn't tell if it was because of some kind of mind control, or the woman was naturally one card short of a deck. And unfortunately, they were neither locked up, nor controlled in some way. Quite the opposite, actually.

They were in control of good old planet Earth and its inhabitants.

And to worsen her already bad mood, the lord of the house -- well, ship – announced that they were going to have special visitors the day after the next. And that meant that the employees (or in some cases slaves), had to make sure that every part of the ship had to shine.

Serena wondered about the importance of the order, but couldn't see the logic in the Master's newest idea. 'Why does the cleanness of the ship matter? If the guests are so special, they are most likely going to die, anyway.'

For a moment, her heart froze as an unsettling thought entered her mind. What if one of the guests was Alex? What if the Master realized who they all were and decided to kill, or worse, torture them before each other's eyes.

After a couple of minutes she banished the idea to to back of her mind. She was sure that even as a Chameleon arched human, she would've felt if something happened to her oldest brother.

For the rest of the day she forced herself to think happy thoughts; about her family and childhood.

Unaware that someone else was listening to her thoughts.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Sam had received the message too earlier that day, but unlike his sister, he couldn't calm down so easily. His father's never liked to talk about the Master, Jack was the only one who had the tendency to mention the evil genius. The immortal told the stories of the insane Time Lord's escapades to both him and Alex, always trying to weave some eternal truth into the tales. When they were young, the stories were more like fairy tales about the good and the bad, but as they got older, Jack transformed the tales into lessons about knowing and not underestimating the enemy.

Sam remembered the stories vividly, as well as the nights when the nightmares they caused sent him to his older brother's room, who then calmed him down by explaining that the Master was gone and he couldn't hurt Sam. He grew up thinking that, so it was incredibly hard for him to face the man who was the bogeyman of his childhood.

He had learned at a young age how dangerous the Master was, so he spent the rest of the day worrying, not realizing that he wasn't alone in his head.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The Master stood on the bridge with a gigantic grin on his face. He looked around and noted that all the VIP guests were present, and were reasonably uncomfortable and scared.

The Jones family was huddling together in one corner, and Freak was handcuffed and held at gunpoint in the other. He would be good for entertainment if there was something wrong with the main production, thought the Master. The Doctor was in his cage, which was placed on the Master's right. Lucy was hanging off his left arm, grinning insanely at the show she knew was coming.

He stepped forward, cleared his throat and started.

"Ladies and Gentl... er, sorry. Doctor, Freak and Joneses. I ordered you here to be witnesses to not only one, but two special events. I can assure you, neither of them will cause you to cry tears of joy, but honestly, what fun would it be if they made you happy? I like my toys miserable," he motioned towards the prisoners, indicating that they were the mentioned toys.

"So, the first surprise," he continued, "I believe you already know about my plans about creating my own empire. Based on me as a God, and you, inferior humans as my lowly slaves. I believe that I expressed my joy about having no real enemy to speak of, because everybody that could do anything against me, is already here or dead. So.."

"Have you already forgotten about Martha Jones?" interrupted the speech Jack with a defiant expression on his face.

The Master turned to him, "I didn't give you a permission to speak, did I, Freak?" He raised his gun to shoot the annoying captain, but thought again. "Oh, no. I won't kill you now. I don't want you to miss the surprise. And what a threat one woman could be?" he said, then turned his thoughts back to his speech.

"So, my dear toys, imagine my surprise and shock when I stumbled upon this piece of information. 'And what did you learn?' you might ask. And I'd answer, that I learned that my dear old friend, the always sorry hero, the Doctor here has been lying to me! He told me that they were all dead. Did you really believe that you could hide them from me?" he asked, continuously raising his voice and shouting the last part of the sentence in the Doctor's face.

"What are you talking about?" asked the creature that was once the Doctor quietly.

The Master didn't answer him, just regarded him without a word. Then, without a warning, he started to laugh.

"Oh, my dear Doctor. Trust you to spoil my big plan of revealing you as the schemer," he grinned and clapped excitedly. "But this is so much better! I get to watch your reaction as I introduce, then kill them."

"Kill who?" asked the Doctor warily.

"The lasts of the Time Lords," whispered the Master enigmatically.

"Don't joke about that. You know we are the lasts."

"Are you sure? After all, you didn't know about me 'til that Jones woman got me to open the fob-watch."

"You're lying," whispered the Doctor.

"Who are you trying to convict? Me or yourself?" asked the Master, then he motioned to his personal guards. The four man disappeared, but a moment later they came back, dragging two young humans with them.

"Look at them, Doctor. Aren't they familiar?" pressed the Master, but when the Doctor still couldn't focus on the two, he realized something. "Oh, I almost forgot. They're wearing perception filters. Take them off!" he ordered the guards.

A moment after the guards complied, two gasps filled the otherwise quiet control room.

"Oh my God!" voiced their common thought Jack. "That's impossible," he whispered, staring at the younger and slightly different versions of the Doctor and the long lost Rose Tyler.

The Doctor didn't say a word, but was staring wordlessly at the two. He watched as the boy moved to stand between the girl –his sister?- and the Master, trying to protect her. He ran his eyes over both of them, not noticing that they were doing the same thing to him until his eyes met the girls'. But when it happened, a familiar presence of a family made itself known in the back of his mind; it was somehow dimmer than the one he had been used to so long ago, but he soon realized that they must've been Chameleon Arched.

When the truth finally sank in, he gave them a small smile that broadened into a full grin when the girl waved at him shyly, mouthing "Hi, Dad!"

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The moment was rudely interrupted by the Master, who clearly didn't enjoy the slightly weird family reunion as much as Jack and the Doctor did.

"Hey, Freak and Doctor! I didn't bring them here to make you happy, remember? I believe I said something about killing the guests?"

The words sobered the Doctor up. "Master, you can't do this! They're our kind. You... you can't. Please."

"Old friend, while your words make me feel really fuzzy inside, I have to say no. What kind of Master would I be if I jumped to please my own prisoners?"

"Koshei, please don't take them away," pleaded the Doctor, but he soon regretted his words. The Master tore his cage open and roughly shook him.

"Don't you dare call me that! I am the Master! And I'll finally show you how does it feel to lose everything." And with that, he pushed the Doctor back into the cage and closed its door.

The Master took a moment to compose himself, then spoke up again. "I think it's time for the second surprise of the day. Guards!"

The four guards disappeared again, but the Doctor didn't notice it, as he was still trying to plead with the Master.

His attention was roughly snapped back to the scene when he heard Jack's cry of anguish.

"Ianto!" called out the immortal while struggling with his bonds. And really, the Doctor could see Ianto Jones of Torchwood Cardiff kneeling between the four guards.

While Jack only saw his lover, the Doctor, along with the rest of the room, noticed the second person struggling to stand up behind Ianto. He was lslightly taller as Jack's lover –maybe the same height as the immortal--, but other than that, they could've been mistaken for relatives. They both had dark hair with strong blue eyes, accompanied by a nose the women (and some men) would call cute.

The Doctor's attention was again pushed back to his somehow kids. Sam looked horrified, and Serena's mouth was open in a silent scream. He quickly realized that the children knew the newcomers. He looked back at man behind Mr. Jones, and saw that he was mouthing calming words to the youngests. It seemed perfectly normal; an adult trying to calm down the scared children, but to the Doctor something didn't quite add up.

The penny dropped quite soon for the Time Lord.

One, the man didn't look much older than his children.

Two, he was the man he had seen with Rose on the spaceship, and after the incident with Shakespeare. His hearts sunk at the thought of being in the same room with the man who got Rose.

Three, the words spoken were Gallifreyans.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Sam and Serena watched with horror as their brother was dragged into the room by the guards. At first they didn't even notice their uncle with him.

'This wasn't supposed to happen. This can't be happening,' ran the thought through their minds.

"What is uncle Ianto doing here? He was supposed to stay with the team. If he dies here...," whispered Serena, unable to finish the thought. If their uncle died here, the reversal of time wouldn't bring him back to life.

"We changed history by crashing here. Anything can happen," explained Sam quietly before catching Alex's eyes.

'Don't panic, we'll be fine. Calm down Rena, and keep her out of the way. We have a way out,' he mouthed the Gallifreyan words. Then after a moment of thinking, he added, 'Martha's safe too,' but that wasn't meant for Sam. The younger noticed then that the Doctor also caught the exchange, and now was staring at them in shock.

Ignoring their father, Sam nodded. He didn't have to wait long for the plan, as right after his affirmation Alex reached behind his back and started fiddling with the cleverly hidden Vortex Manipulator. Sam saw him push a button, and immediately Ianto disappeared in a flash of blue light.

He grasped Serena's hand and waited for the uncomfortable sensation of being hurled through the vortex, but it never came. Instead of the awaited escape, only the light bulbs shattered.

Sam looked at Alex, but the eldest didn't look his way. The confusion was solved by the cackle of the Master.

"Did you really think that your escape plan would work?" he asked mockingly.

"Well, I'm pretty sure I had a bloke in front of me a moment ago," snarked back Alex.

"Oh, who cares about the Freak's sextoy. He was just a surprise. I was aiming to get you. Alex," he shrugged, emphasizing the eldest's name. "What? No smart quip?... Yeah, right. You're still shocked that I know your name. I have to tell you, big brother, that your siblings' heads are interesting places. I might have to visit them again, I'm afraid I couldn't get through all the blocks on the first try."

"Don't you dare, you bastard,'' growled Alex.

"Oh, here's the anger, and the voice thingy. Now I can believe that you're the Doctor's son," he grinned smugly, enjoying as the realization dawned on the Doctor.

"Son?" he whispered, feeling foolish. All things suddenly made sense. Everything that happened on the spaceship was a paradox. Alex must've seen him with Reinette in the garden even before he saw the boy talking to Rose. The talk caused the Doctor to go to the uncrowned queen, and their 'relationship' was the reason of the talk.  
And in London, there must've been another version of himself, with Rose and their family. Alex was ill, but the delirium wasn't the reason the young man called him Dad; he just couldn't tell the difference between the versions of the Doctor.

"Yeah," answered Alex quietly. He caught the look on the Doctor's face, and realized the same thing. Now that their mental blocks were slightly lowered, he could feel his father's thoughts. He also realized that if all of them got out alive from the mess, he'd have some major groveling to do. After all, he spent decades blaming his father for something that was practically his own fault.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The Master watched the exchange with interest, waiting for the perfect moment to drop the biggest bomb of the evening. He waited until the Doctor smiled at Alex, then he spoke up.

"I believe there's still the matter of killing them," he piped up, and enjoyed as all the heads snapped back towards him. "Ah, that's so much better," he sighed happily.

"You can't. Please Ko.., Master. Don't," begged the Doctor. Jack was held back by the four guards. When he refused to calm down, one of the armed man simply shoot him.

"I like the sound of that, you begging. But as I said earlier, I have to say no. I have an experiment to run," he announced. "Alex. Have you ever notice anything different about yourself?" inquired the Master.

"What do you mean?" asked back Alex, despite his reservations.

"Oh, I don't know. Ever felt like you shouldn't exist, felt 'wrong' in your own skin?" he pressed, and watched Alex pale a little.

"No, I didn't," answered the eldest sibling, but the Master could see through his lie.

"Yes, you did," corrected him gleefully the Master. "And you know why? Do you? Because you're a freak too!" he exclaimed.

"Oh come on! Who's not a freak in your eyes. So coming from you, it really doesn't mean anything, mate," answered Alex flippantly, but inwardly fearing the real reason, because he had a suspicion about it.

"Clever, but wrong! And you know it. And that's why I get to run the experiment of the universe --the unraveling of a living paradox by the help of my trusty Tardis."

"What the hell are you on, Master?" spoke up the revived Jack, trying to buy some time. He hoped that one of the non-evil Time Lords would come up with some kind of plan.

"Shut it, Freak. On a second thought, don't. I want you to choose. Who will die first? The father or the son?" he said in his best announcer voice. Jack paled.

"I... I can't," he stuttered. He knew he had to, but didn't know what to do. If he chose Alex, the Doctor'd never forgive him –if they got out alive of their prison. On the other hand, he couldn't choose the Doctor either. Though the kids looked like they really were the Doctor's, he could believe that the whole scene was another of the Master's sick games.

After not answering the question for long seconds, the Master got bored, "Oh, come on, Freak. We don't have the whole day. Some of us actually has things to do, continents to blow up, or..." he was cut off by a quiet interruption.

"Choose me!" said Alex, shocking the whole room into silence.

"I didn't ask you!"

"So? What will you do, kill me?" countered Alex, not turning to look at Jack, refusing to make eyecontact with anyone but his siblings. They both looked back with eyes filled with fear and approval. "I'm a paradox, Jack. Like you, but not exactly. I was the one to take Dad back to the parallel world. If you choose him, four of us will die. But pick me, and Dad will survive. Please Jack, the three of us will die either way. "

Jack shook his head. Even if it was just a ruse, he had no problem believing that the Master would kill the children just to see the others' reactions. But the look on Sam and Serena's face convicted him.

"Do it, Jack. Please," pleaded the middle child. Jack could see the determination in his eyes. Serena was grasping his hand tightly in hers, but despite her fear, she nodded in agreement.

He watched Alex looking at the spot Ianto had vanished from before turning back to his siblings once more, whispering calming nothings to them. 'Everything will be alright. We're going to be fine. Don't worry. Trust me.' The words didn't do anything to help, they were obviously lies, but Jack noticed that they still helped the younger ones. Sam had a fearless smile on his face, and Serena wasn't gripping her brother's hand so tightly anymore.

A moment later the obvious hit Jack. It wasn't just a charade, they really were the Doctor's kids, who were ready to sacrifice themselves for their father. He couldn't force himself to look at the Doctor, he wasn't ready to see the realization dawning on the older alien. The realization that another three people were going to die in his place.

He was still hesitating to give an answer, fearing the Doctor's reaction, when he accidentally caught Alex's eyes. For a moment he felt the young man's thoughts mingling with his owns, then he heard the words.

"If I die the paradox reverses and time rewrites itself. You won't remember your choice. He either," whispered the eldest son, and Jack realized that the boy somehow read his thoughts. "There will be no guilt."

Jack searched his eyes, and again, he could only find determination and worry for Sam and Serena.

He smiled sadly at the three, then turned to the Master.

"I made my choice. I want the Doctor alive," he announced, and from the corner of his eyes, he saw the tears in the Doctor's eyes.

The Master, who had been in the middle of aiming his gun at the tiny creature, kicked a chair in frustration, then pouted and exclaimed,

"Aaw, bugger. I was seeing forward to killing the Doctor. But I promised you the choice. So," he trailed off, and without a warning, shot Alex.

Jack didn't know what made him more nauseas, the amount of blood, the sight of the girl running over and cradling the dying form of her brother, or the last words of the young man.

He vaguely saw Sam joining his siblings, but all he could concentrate of were Alex's words.

"See you in hell, Koshei."

Before Jack could think about the meaning of the words, the golden mist of the time vortex washed his world away.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Aaw, bugger. I was seeing forward to killing the Doctor. But I promised you the choice. So,"

Sam didn't even have the time to comprehend the words before he heard the sound of a firing gun and saw his brother's body hitting the floor. He could only watch as Serena tore herself away from him and ran to cradle Alex.

It was so wrong to see his sister covered in their brother's blood. Even worse than just seeing Alex's blood. 'Of course, I've seen the latter before. After the disasterous trip to Azal lV. Dad wandered off with the ambassador, we got captured, and after Dad came back, Alex yelled at him, something about another Mme de Pompadour. I've never seen Dad so hurt before; he stalked off without a word. Thing's never been the same between them since that incident –trust issues--, but they're trying. Mom cried after he said it, and said something about Alex promising to never bringing that up again. I was thirteen, he made Mom cry, so I threw a screwdriver at him. He was caught off guard, so it hit him. There is so much more blood this time... Oh my God! He's dying, and I'm standing here remembering our fights.'

He forced himself to snap out of his shock, and joined Serena on the floor while the Master watched. He took his brother's hand, causing Alex to look at him.

"I'm sorry. I should've come up with a better plan, but there was no time," he whispered before coughing up some blood.

Sam just shook his head. 'You did everything,' he wanted to say so many things, but no words came out. 'It's not fair, you're not supposed to die. You are Alex, you are the one who protects us, you can't die. We need you. Mom will be heartbroken. And you have so much things to mend with Dad... I'm not ready to be you,' he pleaded, forgetting for a moment what was to come next.

"I'm so sorry," repeated the words the eldest, before turning his head to face the Master.

His last words, filled with conviction, caused Sam to shiver.

"See you in hell, Koshei."

A moment later, when he was floating in the golden river, he said his goodbyes quietly.

OoOoOoOoOooOoOoOoOoOo

The Doctor looked at the scene with tears in his eyes. He wanted to get up and go over to them, but he couldn't. And it had nothing to do with the Master and his gun.

He felt everything change. While Alex was dying, the paradox machine was doing its work, destroying and reweaving every timeline Alex's had ever touched.

He heard the scream of his beloved Tardis, as she was trying to stop what she was forced to do.

He watched as his children's personal timelines disintegrated.

He sensed the vortex engulfing him before he saw the golden light.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo  
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo  
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

And as the mist bathed the universe in its golden light, for a moment the universe ripped itself apart, only to be woven back by the time vortex itself.

xxxxxxxx

"Dying in your arms. Happy now?"  
"You're not dying, don't be stupid. It's only a bullet. Just regenerate."  
"No."  
"One little bullet. Come on."  
"I guess you don't know me so well. I refuse."  
"Regenerate! Just regenerate! Please. Please! Just regenerate! Come on!"  
"And spend the rest of my life imprisoned with you?"  
"You've got to! Come on. It can't end like this. You and me, all the things we've done. Axons, remember the Axons? And the Daleks. We're the only two left. Everyone else… REGENERATE!"  
"How about that? I win. Will it stop, Doctor? The drumming? Will it stop?"

Three figures were watching the Master's body burning before walking away...

Noone noticed when someone retrieved a ring from among the ashes...

"Time was every single one of these people knew your name. Now they've all forgotten you."  
"Good."

"And what about me? Can you fix that? Will I ever be able to die?"  
"Nothing I can do. You're an impossible thing, Jack."  
"Been called that before."

"OK, vanity. Sorry. Yeah, can't help it. Used to be a poster boy when I was a kid, living in the Boeshane Peninsula. Tiny little place. I was the first one ever to be signed up for the Time Agency. They were so proud of me. The Face of Boe, they called me. Huh. I'll see you."

"Hey kids, did you miss me?"

"Oh, do you have a team name? I love team names, go on! "  
"Torchwood."  
"Oh. Not Excalibur? Blizzard? Bikini Cops? No? Torchwood. Oh, dear."

"Are you going back to him?"  
"I came back for you... er, ...all of you."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

This shifted, that moved, and millions of events were readjusted, so when woven back together, all the parts would fit again, even without the three missing pieces...

The End


End file.
